Reluctance With Wings
by rachel-chanx3
Summary: A month doesn't seem very long when a shinigami tells you that's all you have left to live. But what happens when Tsuna finds himself falling for said shinigami? "Dear Diary, Shinigami don't use death scythes. They use tonfas. Tonfas hurt." AU, 1827.
1. Moonlight Sonata

**01. Moonlight Sonata.**

T-Minus 30 Days

_Weak, _was the first word to come to mind. Everything thing about the boy simply screamed weak and defenceless. He stood by the bed on which the boy was sleeping, carefully concealed by the convenient shadows of the night. There, he critically analyzed him. The boy thrashed about, occasionally shifting awkwardly, entangling his limbs further in his sheets.

_A nightmare,_ he guessed. And then thought, _I wonder what it's about._

Grimacing, he allowed himself to step closer – for observational purposes, he told himself. It was a miracle he could make anything out in the darkness. This particular night, ominous clouds hung directly over head the town, hiding away almost the entire moon. Just barely, a small sliver of light managed to penetrate through the opaque skies.

The boy's hair was a dishevelled mess. Long bangs were matted to his forehead with sweat, the cold kind of sweat you get when you're afraid; bits stuck out on random ends; and as much as he was reluctant and ashamed to think it, it all looked so incredibly soft and inviting. It made him want to play with it, to run his fingers through it, to mess it up even more... He shook his head, almost like he was trying to shake out those thoughts. He refocused on the boy again, and began working his way down the boy's face. He noticed slim eyebrows which were furrowed (in worry? in anxiety?) and eyes that were shut tightly. He had round, chubby cheeks, lips that were parted slightly, erratically drawing in shallow breaths of air, and a pinched up look. He looked young, but even more so, he looked panicked. Afraid, almost.

Well, that is to be expected when one is experiencing a nightmare. Though, he wouldn't know.

His eyes quickly scanned over him, he noticed his neck was quite slender. And despite the child-like puffiness of his cheeks and soft angle of his jaw, the rest of his body was, too. Young and afraid and _fragile_. The boy looked like he would break if you so much as poked him.

A whimper escaped the boy's lips. A barely audible noise. He strained his ears and listened intently, trying to confirm if he heard correctly. And when the sound did come again, he paused before hesitantly brushing the back of his hand against a cheek. The warmth that radiated off nearly surprised him, though it seemed to soothe the boy somewhat as he tried to lean into the touch. _It feels nice_, he decided, allowing his hand to remain there a few more moments, _Humans feel nice._

How long has it been since he's had some sort of contact with a human?

A frown crept its way onto his face. He shouldn't be thinking of such trivial matters.

Eventually, the warmth would disappear from his body. The pleasant colour that adorned his face would fade. He would stop breathing, his heart would stop beating – _he would die_. He would die like every other person born into the world... only... he would be the one to take this human away.

Deciding it was time to leave, he walked over to the window he had previously opened upon entrance, purposely refusing to look back at the body sleeping on the bed. Two wings swiftly sprouted from his back, connecting at where his shoulder blades should have jutted out. They were large, almost as large as himself, made seemingly of only black feathers, as black as the night itself. They drooped downward, the size gradually lessening as it descended.

His eye fluttered shut as he flapped his wings lightly, feeling wind at his feet. He savoured this moment, it was his favourite part: the moment before flight. He let his wings lift him up and carry him out the window. He contemplated what to do next with all this time – now that he had found his mission, – for a moment before contentedly settling on circling the small town. A rain drop fell onto his head, and soon after, it came pouring down. He hated the rain. He really, really hated the rain.

But tonight, he didn't realize how damp his clothes felt, sticking to his skin, or how his wings felt heavier now that it was coated with water... or the thing he hated most about the rain – this sickening bittersweet melody of each drop hitting the ground. His mind was back at a certain house, in a particular room on the second floor, with the boy who was having a nightmare. He could only think...

_He's going to die._

T-Minus 29 Days

Tsuna stared out the window and at the bright blue sky as he cradled his head in the palm of his hand. His teacher was droning on and on about something he was sure he'd never need in actual life. Biology or something. He really should have been paying attention; Science was never his forte. And to be honest, his grades right now weren't exactly that great – not to mention Reborn-sensei was just down-right terrifying.

Reborn-sensei had just begun teaching at Nami Middle that year, quickly becoming the talk of the school as that man from Italy. Why he transferred all the way from Italy was unknown, but it didn't seem like he was too keen on the idea himself. The man was easily distinguished by his long and curly side burns, the fedora he always had on, expensive Italian suits he insisted on wearing every day, and of course, the murderous aura that hung around him.

And by some strange twist of fate, Tsuna was going to be stuck in his class for the whole year.

Though, it wasn't all that bad. At the beginning of the year, Reborn-sensei has assigned a group project, and as luck would have it, he got paired up with the two most popular guys in his grade, Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi. The fourth member of their group was the school's idol, Sasagawa Kyoko. It was relatively easy for them to get along (albeit intimidating at first) and become friends, thus omitting Tsuna of his 'No-Good' title.

_Kyoko-chan..._

His mind turned to her name again, and Tsuna unconsciously let the corners of his lips tweak upward in a secretive smile. She sat near the front of the room, while Tsuna sat more towards the back, and was currently taking notes like a diligent student. Well, she was the school's idol for a reason. She was cute and kind and sweet. She excelled in her studies, and sports. There didn't seem to be a single person who could talk badly of her.

_The complete opposite of me,_ Tsuna sighed.

And that was when his breathing hitched.

There was a _person_.

A person_ floating_.

A person who was _clearly_ floating outside and directly in front of his class which was located on the _second _floor!

_Omigod._

A million different emotions flooded through Tsuna, shock being one of the more predominant ones.

People don't just _float, _right?

Right.

_Omigod._

x

He really was a normal boy as far as he could tell. Sawada Tsunayoshi. For some reason or another, the boy was unfortunately his newest target. He didn't understand it, but he accepted it... and it wasn't like he could refuse, anyways. But now, his target seemed to be gaping in _his _direction.

_He couldn't be staring at me, could he?_

He quickly dismissed the idea sourly. No human could see him – no human should be able to see him.

_But what else could he be so captivated by?_

x

A hand slammed down onto his desk. Eyes peering and lips sneering from beneath the fedora.

"Sawada."

Gulp.

"Y-yes?"

"You're paying attention, aren't you?" Reborn purred lowly, dangerously.

"Y-yes."

No.

"Of course you are," he agreed.

How could he?

There was a person floating!

"Because if you weren't, bad things would happen, you know. Very bad things."

_Floating!_

"I'm glad we have that settled."

_Floating, damn it!_

Reborn gave Tsuna a pointed look.

"O-oh, r-right."

That seemed to satisfy Reborn more or less, because he extracted himself from Tsuna's view. Immediately, Tsuna checked the window.

Oh, the boy wasn't there anymore, it must have been a –

Tsuna jolted and all but screamed and jumped out of his seat.

_Holy – _

"In an ecosystem, there are several types of animals."

The boy was _there_, he beside _him_.

_Omigod._

"You can classify them in several different ways."

x

Hn? It appeared that the boy really could see him. Fascinating.

x

_OhmyGod._

"A common way being: herbivore and carnivore."

x

But just to make sure...

x

_Oh dear Lord..._

"Carnivores are at the top of the food chain; their diet predominantly consists of meat."

x

He leaned in...

_Oh great Buddha..._

"Herbivores are generally much weaker, and easier to prey on. Consumed by the carnivores."

And brushed his hand across the same cheek, mimicking the previous night's actions...

However...

_Hie!_

"Their diet–"

"Bathroom!" the boy shouted, as he abruptly jumped out of his chair and sprinted towards the door.

_However_, it seemed that he didn't remember his touch.

He had sprinted as fast he could,

Outside of the school, Tsuna was slumped against the solid brick foundation of the school, attempting to catch his breath. It was a miracle he didn't fall down the flight of stairs, or trip on some invisible object along the way. He touched his cheek. He hadn't imagined that.

_I felt that. I mean, everyone else didn't seem to notice some guy in black molest my cheek, but I totally felt that._

Deeply exhaling, Tsuna looked up through his bangs at the figure, who sure enough, was resting against the very same wall as him. "Wh-why can't other people see you?"

When there was no answer, Tsuna tried again, half exasperated, "Uh... if you don't mind me asking, what are you?"

The boy remained still with his arms crossed of each other, and onyx hair falling into his face. It was like he didn't even acknowledge him!

Well, that was rude! It was time for a different tactic, it appeared.

"How do you float?"

There was a snort on the other's part, which Tsuna thought was the best reaction so far.

"I don't float, I fly," he corrected, opening one eye in amusement.

The liquid smooth voice startled Tsuna, causing him to jolt once more.

_R-right... because that makes this situation seem... more sane. _

"What are you?" Tsuna repeated, words dripping with anxiety.

"A shinigami."

"No, really, what are you?"

Normal ashen irises flickered a bright crimson momentarily, stunning the boy.

"A s-shini-g-gami?" the boy managed to squeak out before fainting completely.

The shinigami sighed. How troublesome. The boy was even weaker than he had initially thought... ah. What was it that teacher said?

"Herbivore," he stated with a small grin as he swept the herbivorous boy up into his arms, and took off. He silently prayed that the boy in his arms wouldn't awaken mid-flight.

However, when Tsuna did wake again, he was on his bed, in his room, in his _house_, with no recollection of how he got there. Confused, he pressed his lips into a thin line of thought, and reached for the journal under his bed, vowing every word written true.

x

_Dear Diary,_

_Today, I met a shinigami._

_Shinigamis can float._


	2. Danse Macabre

**02. Danse Macabre**

T-Minus 28 Days

"What happened to you yesterday?" Gokudera asked, hanging off of Tsuna's desk nonchalantly. "You disappeared."

"I... was sick, so I went home early," he replied, feeling like he was half-lying. Fainting clearly meant that he wasn't feeling well, and he _did _end up at home (how he did, though, remained a mystery)but that wasn't the entire truth. It was the bare outline of yesterday's events.

_A brief flicker of crimson eyes–_

"Tch," with the single syllable, the silver-haired teen rolled his eyes grudgingly, "You need to learn to take better care of yourself, and to stop worrying other people."

Tsuna raised his eyebrows at the hidden meaning in the words. Gokudera had always been a bit... shy with his emotions, so Yamamoto and Tsuna often had to decipher his cryptic messages. It was always rather amusing, how soft Gokudera could be.

Gokudera noticed the entertained look Tsuna had on. "N-not that I was worried or anything! It was Yamamoto! D-don't look at me like that! It was him, I swear, Tsuna! He wouldn't stop bothering me about you!"

At that particular moment, a large hand decided to come down on Gokudera's head, ruffling his hair quite thoroughly, stopping the slur of words that seemed to spill out of Gokudera's mouth.

"Eh, what was that Hayato? Who was bothering who about Tsuna?" Yamamoto said playfully. He grinned infectiously as he slung his arm around Gokudera's shoulder. "Man, you wouldn't believe what I had to deal with yesterday," he continued. Impressively, he didn't so much as flinch when a murderous look was shot his way, or when his arm was coldly pried off. "But you're here and in one piece, so I think Gokudera can rest a bit now. He's like... he kinda acts like a child's mom, only... he's not really. But still like a parent, you know? It's cute."

Tsuna smiled. He vaguely began pondering that thought for a bit. Gokudera? A parent? Pft! But then again, on a career aptitude test, he had gotten a childcare worker... perhaps Yamamoto wasn't that far off after all.

"Shut up! I do not!"

Well, Tsuna thought, it wasn't _untrue_.

That was so typical for the both of them: temperamental Gokudera Hayato and easy-going Yamamoto Takeshi – his absolute best friends. The two were also best friends, despite how different they were, and despite how much Gokudera refused the suggestion.

If one were to ask them if the glass was half-full or half-empty, Yamamoto would likely gulp down the remainder and declare it done and over with. Gokudera would calculate the volume of the glass and of the water, and question its purpose before concluding on answer. Their infamous fights, a perfect medley of Gokudera's threats and Yamamoto's laughter, had all become part of the norm of everyday life. Tsuna didn't hate it necessarily. But it surprised him how quickly and effortlessly he had grown accustomed to their married-old-couple style of fighting.

He just wondered at what point had that happened.

"Alright, class is starting, take your seats," spoke the man clad in expensive black. He equipped with a textbook under one arm, and as he sauntered the classroom, the bell rang immediately after him. "Oh, Sawada, back from the bathroom?"

Tsuna swore he had never been so terrified before...

But then again, a textbook had never looked so menacing before, either.

x

It had been long day.

An incredibly long, torturous day that seemed like it would never end.

As punishment, Reborn had called on him for every single question there was. And he started to get really obscure about it, too ("Say I was part of a mafia, as their number one hitman of course, what do you suppose would by the most painful way of assassinating someone?" 'Through these questions,' just didn't seem to cut it. He swore that his life span was just shortened by a single look from his teacher.)

An exasperated sigh left Tsuna's lips before he realized it. He wasn't sure if he would be able to last the entire school year with things going the way they were now – and on top of it all, he had begun hallucinating. He pulled his messenger-styled school bag over his shoulder and closed his locker, leaving the stupid place until his return tomorrow. It must have been a dream or something, because there was no way –

He turned around and nearly screamed at the sudden face mere centimetres away from his.

"Shinigami-san!"

– Shinigami could exist. It just didn't seem _possible_.

A piercing gaze was set upon him, and the other's lips pursed into a thin line.

However, that gaze seemed perfectly possible.

Watchful steel eyes somehow managed to force Tsuna into backing up until his locker. The other's body mirrored his actions, pushing and pushing forward, no distance was allowed between the two. For every small step back he took, and equal step was taken forward, and no real progress was made. He could hear his heartbeat echoing in his ears, and he could feel the cold sweat forming on the back of his neck.

"U-uh, Sh-shinigami-san? W-what are you doing?" he squeaked out after a cautious moment. The 'Shinigami-san' blinked, and Tsuna flinched, squeezing his eyes shut and raising his arms defensively, "Hie! I'm sorry! D-do what you want! Please don't hurt me!"

He expected pain, aggression – something, anything but what he felt.

A hand had delicately touched his arm, and a delicate voice called his name.

"Tsuna-kun?"

W-wait.

That didn't sound like low, icy voice he had heard yesterday [if he wasn't hallucinating, of course.]

Tsuna quickly snuck a peek out of one eye, scared of laid beyond it. Unless Shinigami-san had gone under a miraculous sex change in the span of two seconds, it didn't look like him either.

"K-Kyoko-chan?"

"Who were you talking to?" she asked, a look of puzzlement evident on her features.

"Oh, uh, well," he muttered quite unintelligibly, "I was... talk to myself, I guess. Ahaha... ha..." Tsuna weakly laughed, sounding quite defeated, though, the _other_ person on his right seemed to be quite entertained. "I better go now, I think Mom would like some help the kids."

Kyoko furrowed her eyebrows, and then nodded in understanding, "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, then!"

As the two parted ways, the raven-haired boy trailed closely behind Tsuna.

"Do you like her?" he asked simply, indifferently.

"W-what?" Tsuna was caught off guard. "N-no, she's just a friend. I mean, she's cute and nice and innocent, but I don't think I really have a chance with her," the brunet unconsciously babbled, as he continued walking, "There are so many guys that have confessed to her. Just recently, the captain of the kendo club – Mochida-senpai, I think – asked her out. She said no."

"Hn?"

"If she rejected him, then I... I... Why am I telling you this, anyways?" Tsuna exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks as if just realizing that he was practically admitting a secret love. "I don't even know you, and you keep following me!"

"It's my job," the boy monotonously, as-a-matter-of-factly; like that it quite blatantly obvious and he was _clearly _just making a huge deal out of a minor detail.

"_To stalk me?" _Tsuna cried, bemused.

"To _watch_ you," he corrected.

"Oh? And what have you figured out about me, _Shinigami-san_?" asked Tsuna warily.

"Well, I have this theory," the other began, "that you're an herbivore."

Tsuna would have sweat-dropped at that precise moment if he were an anime character. That sounded absolutely ridiculous. "An herbivore," he repeated.

"Yes."

"An herbivore."

"Undoubtedly."

"An herbivore."

"I think we've established this, already."

"I do eat meat, you know."

"But you display so many other herbivorous qualities; I believe your meat-eating can be overlooked."

"What does a carnivore look like, then?"

And so, Shinigami-san grinned in a way that could only be described as _predatorial_. "Like me."

He raised his arms slightly, and his hands soon gripped metal that materialized into them. They were in a long, sleek cylindrical form, and the glint complimented the grin in an insane sort of way.

"What are those?"

"_Tonfas._"

x

Tsuna groaned and rubbed his head, wincing immediately. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Sluggish from forced unconsciousness, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, noticing that he was on his bed. Again. With no memory of how that happened. _Again_. Oh jeez, he really did need to stop making a habit out of it. Soon, he would be left without any memories!

"You're awake," the boy stated and he spun around on the chair.

Tsuna blinked once. Then twice. Then, "You – you_ hit _me! Why!"

"You asked what they were," he pointed out, doing his best to refrain from chuckling. Honestly. The brunet was so clueless, and watching his face contort in realization was hilarious to watch.

"You didn't need to give me a _demonstration_, I speak Japanese just fine! You could have just explained it to me!"

"But I'm a carnivore."

"That sentence has no logic behind it – agh, I don't understand you at all!" With that, Tsuna flung himself backwards, back onto his bed, the stress of just _listening_ to the strange person seemed to be too much to handle sitting up. This guy... was just too frustrating! He glanced briefly at the clock on his desk. Almost immediately after, he shut his eyes and refused to believe that it was ten o'clock, and that he had been unconscious for about six hours. "What are you... really?"

"A Shinigami."

"How can I believe something like that?" He asked, pulling a pillow over his face in denial. Maybe he'd wake up, and nobody would be there, and it'd be like nothing had ever happened. Perhaps he had taken on too many blows to the head in between his failed attempt at sports and Reborn-sensei. Maybe he was on camera right now, and viewers were laughing at him.

The alleged Shinigami scoffed, "How could you not?"

Computers could create a lot of special effects for movies after the footage had been filmed, and Tsuna knew that... it's just that... he was already seeing the special effects.

"So, Shinigami-san–"

"Kyouya," the boy interrupted.

"Huh?"

"That's my name... I think."

_You think!_

"Er, Kyouya-san, why do you need to watch me?"

The door slammed open, and a child no older than five strutted in, huge curly afro, cow-print pyjamas and all. "Nyahahahaha! Stupid Tsuna, guess what Mama gave me? Grape candy, nyahahaha! I _might _even be willing to share with you if you _beg_ me, and called me the Great Lambo-sama!"

x

_Dear Diary,_

_Shinigami don't use death scythes. They use tonfas._

_Tonfas hurt._

x

"What are you doing?" Kyouya asked once everything had settled down again. After the cow child had intruded, chaos was inevitable. The brat was so hyped up on whatever was in that grape candy, Tsuna thought he'd never fall asleep again.

Lambo Bovino was technically his neighbour, but he was there more often than not, so somewhere along the line, it was like he was assimilated into Tsuna's small family. The Bovino family seemed to always be away on 'business' so Nana Sawada – his dear, dear mother, with a heart too kind to turn anyone away – took care of Lambo quite a bit. The guest room had completely turned into his personal play room, littered with toys _everywhere_.

It had been the three of them for a while now, since Tsuna's father was also in some foreign country for business. The two could relate more than they'd admit, and in more ways than one.

Lambo wasn't the only child Nana looked after: there was also I-Pin. She was the same age as Lambo, but her circumstances were less known. Lambo had simply brought her home one day, and none of the police could find or contact her parents (which didn't matter much as she had already become part of their family at that point.)

And well, if you really wanted to, you could count Bianchi... though she was probably already twenty. She had shown up at their doorstep one day and requested to be the pupil of Nana for _cooking_, of all things. How it all happened, he had no idea She could hardly poor someone a glass of water without contaminating it in some way! However, Nana seemed to be too flattered by the whole idea of it all, she merely disregarded all of it and _encouraged _the woman! ("All you need to do is practice!")

"Just writing," Tsuna said, shutting the journal.

"Why?" Kyouya asked sceptically.

"Because I want to remember every day I live."

"Why?"

"Ah... how do I put this... it's because every day is precious, you know?" he replied, looking thoughtful. "Sometimes things don't go well, or unfortunate events happen, but there are a lot of other happy memories also. It's not really about what's good or bad, but everything... is all a precious part of my life. The time I spend with everyone is a treasure that I don't want to forget."

For the first time in a long time, emotions swelled up in Kyouya's chest, ballooning over his lungs and especially over the stupid artery called the heart. It ached. It had never ached before.

"That's stupid," he muttered, trying his best to push those unpleasant feelings away. He wasn't sure how to deal with them. Besides, it wasn't his fault the human was so stupid, and so naive, and so... innocent, ultimately. He could feel liquid honey eyes on his back, staring at him intently, but he refused to turn around. He refused to give into those feelings because he was a carnivore, and carnivores are strong. They don't have empathy for herbivores. But above all, because he was a shinigami, and shinigami weren't even supposed to be able to interact with humans, nor were they supposed to feel anything. For a lack of anything better to say, he merely retorted with, "You're just going to die, anyways."

"W-what?"


	3. Lacie

**03. Lacie**

T-Minus 28 Days (Continuation)

"U-um, sorry. Could you repeat that?" Tsuna asked, a bit demurely. There was an almost... hopeful expression on his face – hoping that he didn't hear what he thought he did.

"You're going to die," Kyouya said slowly, letting each lead-heavy word sink in. The weight numbingly crushing all his thoughts, and the sentence resonated in Tsuna's mind, screaming itself over and over; time seemed to still for the sole purpose of letting Tsuna hear his heart echo in his ears.

_You're going to die... You're going to die. You'regoingtodie. You'regoingtodieyou'regoingtodieyou'regoingtodie._

_N-no. _

T-that wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible! He was a sound fourteen year-old boy, generally very free of illnesses and disease. He did have the occasional (daily) lovely purple bruises and angry pink scratches from his clumsiness, but that wasn't _life-threatening_. He was healthy! Healthy, healthy, healthy, so there was no way it could be possible. Definitely not possible. Not possible.

...or was it just the refusal to believe that it was?

Kyouya stared out the window. A large tree's branches swayed and its leaves flitted about. He expected denial. He expected anger and confusion. He did _not _expect laughter.

"Oh, I get it, it's a joke–"

"It's not a joke." Kyouya said, spinning around. The laughter. It wasn't a normal laugh, the act he had seen so many humans do before when they found something "funny." It was a quivering laugh that didn't mean amusement, but fear. If there was a reason why shinigami weren't able to converse with humans, this was it. Nothing had ever sounded so cringingly bitter to him before, he even almost shuddered.

The brunet desperately searched the cold, hard face for clues. Any clues; even just the smallest crack of a betraying smile would be enough. Frantically, he scanned over him again and again, over an apathetic person void of any emotions.

"I'm going to die," Tsuna said quietly, no more than a mere whisper. His eyes were downcast in defeat, staring at the wood table he sat at. He had already known it wasn't a joke. But it didn't hurt to try, right?

The other nodded solemnly in silent agreement watching the broken boy before him. He took in a shaky breath before deeply exhaling.

"Why?" When there was no response, he continued, "How? When?" And finally, "How much longer do I have?"

"Less than a month," was the only answer to all of the questions he had. It appeared the rest would remain unanswered.

The brunet stared up at the white ceiling, eyes glazed over with daze. A million things ran through his head, but none of them would come out.

"Why are you watching me?"

"Because I pass judgement on you."

Judgement? As in heaven and hell, and the afterlife? "You judge me in just a month?"

"Yes."

"And that's enough to determine what a person is like?"

"It's enough."

Tsuna calmly pushed himself off his bed, much calmer than he should have been, "I'll be right back."

x

Setting down two hot glasses, Tsuna took a seat at the small table placed in the centre of his room. With one hand wrapped around the comforting warmth of his glass, he used his other hand to motion that the second one was Kyouya's.

"Kyouya," Tsuna began awkwardly, testing out the foreign name on his tongue. "You think."

"I think what?" Kyouya hesitantly took a sip of the tea, before quickly downing the entire drink down.

_Apparently Shinigami don't burn their tongues, either, _Tsuna noted trivially. He crossed and uncrossed his legs, gripped his cup tightly and let go, fidgeting nervously and with hesitance.

"Your name... you only think it's your name. Why?"

"Hn." Kyouya was slightly taken back at the question. Perceptive human. Perhaps he was smarter than he had initially given him credit for. "The day I was awoken, I just _was_. I knew solely my name and nothing more."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"How..." Tsuna grappled for the right words, "did you know... what you had to do?"

"Another shinigami came to get me. He taught me everything; though he was the most irritating pineapple bastard I've ever had a chance to meet."

"O-oh," he said awkwardly, trying to envision the man. "What did he teach you?"

"Rules."

The brunet furrowed his eyebrows, "You need rules when you're not human?"

"Of course," he replied like that was an absurd question, "Every world needs _some_ sort of order and discipline."

Tsuna pondered this for a moment. "What are the rules?"

"Well," Kyouya mused, "Humans shouldn't be able to see or hear Shinigami. They can sometimes feel us if we touch them, or sometimes can feel an eerie presence... but generally, we're not supposed to come into any physical contact with them in any way."

"B-but I can see you."

He rolled his eyes at the statement, "_Clearly._"

"Why?"

"I wouldn't know, herbivore." In one swift motion, he grabbed and downed Tsuna's tea – who, quite cutely, pouted in discontent.

"What else?"

"Insignificant and petty things," dully replied the Shinigami. "No killing, no haunting, no prolonging of another's life."

Tsuna rested his head in hands, "Eh? What does that mean?"

"I'm not supposed to extend your life."

"You can extend my life!" he leaned forward on his elbows expectantly, eyes wide and hopeful.

"Hn," Kyouya confirmed, delicately closing his eyes, "But it means trading in our life for yours."

_Oh. _He couldn't ask for that. He couldn't ask that of a stranger-shinigami he just met, even if they knew each other better, he still couldn't. Tsuna wasn't selfish – he definitely didn't want to be saved if it meant someone else's death. Kyouya opened his eyes when there was a soft _thud_ as Tsuna pulled out and dropped a book onto his desk, flipping through the pages.

Letting out a sigh and a sheepish grin, Tsuna looked up at Kyouya. "I still haven't done my homework."

T-Minus 27 Days

Tsuna woke up the next morning to his alarm clock, and somebody running their fingers through his hair. Only... he refused to open his eyes. This was way too comfortable to pull away from. And it was _such _a tiring night, too. Kyouya had come over, looked at the work, rolled his eyes and snorted. At that point, Tsuna's fate was sealed as Kyouya decided to step in a tutor.

He actually wasn't sure of who was worse: Reborn-sensei, or Kyouya. Both seemed to be rather ill-tempered. Both seemed to have unconventional ways of teaching. And both seemed to be _violent. _He had endured the entire night under the constant threat of, "I'll bite you to death" – whatever that meant. _Shinigami... probably don't eat humans... I think._

Or perhaps it was just a part of his whole herbivore/carnivore phase (which, he still didn't understand.)

Screw it; he deserved to stay like this for a bit more. Five more minutes wouldn't hurt anyone. And the fingers felt so _soothing_. Placidly, he let himself ease further into unconsciousness, despite having to go to school. Everything else was locked up in a neat little box, tucked away in some dark corner at the edge of his mind.

x

Kyouya sighed to himself as he ruefully pulled himself away from Tsuna. His breath had just evened out again, so that meant he had fallen back asleep. Of course he had realized Tsuna had woken up, he just couldn't bring himself to stop – and Tsuna didn't exactly do anything either. So it was fine, right? Though, he was honestly beginning to feel slightly like a stalker as he seemed to be observing Tsuna a lot when he was unconscious... not that he was complaining.

It was interesting to observe a human so close up; to see the different expressions they could make; to try to understand them.

As a Shinigami, he wouldn't deny it, it was often lonely.

However, he was one of the lucky ones, because now, now he was going to visit an important friend.

x

"You're late again," Reborn stated in an as-a-matter-of-factly fashion, just as Tsuna slid through the doors, long after the first period bell had rung.

Tsuna nodded glumly, having already accepted this. He swore he had heard his alarm go off this morning... the time from then up until now was hazy. He woke up, ten minutes before school to a lingering space on his bed where Kyouya should have been, but wasn't. _Perhaps he had some shinigami-like matters to attend?_ Tsuna mused as he slipped into his seat, four pairs of eyes watching him – one not so kindly.

"Today, we're starting off with a pop quiz. You can thank dame-Tsuna for that."

In response, there was a chorus of groans, and more eyes fell upon Tsuna who flushed at the attention.

x

"Oya oya, back are we?" a voice purred from the over-sized couch obstructing Kyouya's view. He neared the voice, stepping over holes in the floor, and other random bits that were strewn about – there was even what seemed to be trident discared on the ground.

"This place is disgusting," Kyouya commented, wrinkling his nose. The man on the couch stretched, curling all of his toes, a lazy grin forming on his face. He wore dark clothes similar to Kyouya, clothes that seemed oversized on his thin body. Wings fluttered. "Why do you stay here?"

"Unlike you, I still retain some memories... not all of them, but enough to know that this place used to be special." The other man sighed, reaching hands up to fix his indigo hair that stuck up randomly in an odd manner. Eyes open, he could see one a crimson red, and one an indigo blue. Heterochromia at its finest.

"A deserted theme park?" he asked skeptically, poking the man in the centre of his forehead. "What could have been here, Mukuro?"

"Oh, my dear Kyouya, for this to be considered deserted now, must have meant there was once life that flourished here. The memories of my past-life are almost as though they are covered in mist, but I know I once had family and friends," he said airily. Nostalgically.

The features of Kyouya's face immediately softened, "Yeah? And what was that like?"

"I had a younger sister... Nagi, I think her name was," Mukuro began, resting his head on his palm with a gentle sigh. Kyouya sat on the opposite couch to him, trying not to pay attention to how empty the room looked despite all of the objects in it, or how cold it felt despite the delicate sunlight spilling through broken windows. "I loved her a lot, you know. She was the sweetest thing, though incredibly shy. Ken and Chikusa were my friends, complete opposites too, but they always looked after Nagi when I couldn't." Mukuro laughed quietly to himself, at a private joke he only seemed to understand. Kyouya didn't press further – normally Mukuro didn't talk about himself this much. He had to be contented with what he was told. Maybe Mukuro was still half asleep? "The four of us, we came here a lot. I don't remember what specifically we did, just... that this was a happy place. My body can feel it. I think that's why I keep finding myself here."

Kyouya tried to relate to the feeling, drawing only blanks. Everything was simply blank. Empty space. A room without people; where a memory once was. It's not that he hasn't tried to remember, he _couldn't _remember. If he was able to, would he even want to?

Mukuro noticed the obvious unease and grinned sloppily again, moving over to Kyouya's couch, "Don't worry. I'm sure you had something like this... _love_."

"If I did, wouldn't I remember it?" he asked cynically.

"Maybe, maybe not," came the reply as an arm was slung over his shoulder with familiar playfulness, pulling them _way _too close together. The man had absolutely no sense of personal space, and he was half tempted to just shove him off the couch. "Kufufufu, anyhow, how's your latest mission?"

"Tsunayoshi Sawada," said Kyouya, "Is a herbivore."

Mukuro chuckled, "Oya? That sounds intriguing."

"Hey, have you ever heard of humans being able to... interact with us?"

"No," Mukuro said, tapping a questioning finger to his chin, "Why?"

"He can see me," Kyouya said tentatively, watching as astonishment washed over Mukuro, "I can... touch him, and speak to him."

It seemed that life enjoyed serenading him with surprises – that, or he was incredibly oblivious to people, unable to predict their reactions because Mukuro suddenly slumped, resting his body heavily on him.

"Ah," Mukuro groaned, "You're so lucky."

"Lucky?"

With an exasperated sigh, he pointed at Kyouya's wrist, "I can totally see it. The red string of fate that ties you two together, kufufufu."

Kyouya stared down at his wrist.

"I've heard stories about this. The two on opposite sides of the string are destined to fall in love. A passionate love," Mukuro said dramatically, waving his hands around for emphasis, "A blind love that only allows them to see each other... it's a dangerous flirt with death for one, and always a bitter ending for the other. The human eventually dies, and it's the shinigami who has to take their life."

Grimly, Kyouya pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Kufufufu, but of course, I'm only kidding. Who believes in these fictitious tales, anyways? ...perhaps, you, Kyouya?"

A couch cushion hit Mukuro in the face.

x

"Alright, pass your papers back to their original owner before handing it back to me," Reborn instructed after the taking and the marking of their early morning pop quiz on well... just about _everything._ Tsuna bit his bottom lip. The questions in the beginning were easy; Kyouya had gone over them a million times. They progressingly became more difficult as they went on and there were definitely a few that stumped him, but he managed to make his way through them in the end.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled as he placed a sheet down on Tsuna's desk, "When did you get so smart, haha?"

"Tch." Before Tsuna had a chance to flip it over, Gokudera lifted the sheet up, raising his eyebrows along with it. He scanned over the paper once, twice, before roughly tousling Tsuna's hair. "You did alright, I suppose," he said with feigned indifference, though the slight quirk of his mouth quickly gave him away, "Good job."

At the top right, a bright red _90 _was circled.

Whoa.

Tsuna rubbed his eyes.

_Whoa._

Him! "Dame-Tsuna" had gotten a _90_, and it wasn't even that hard!

_Was it because of last night? _Tsuna pondered briefly, _Or maybe I'm a genius! _

"Oh wow, Tsuna-kun, you've improved!" Kyoko exclaimed happily, having made her way over to the trio. She peered over Tsuna's shoulder, her face literally right next to his. He could smell her artificial cherry lipgloss.

Tsuna could have died right then.

Blood surged to his face, turning it a lovely red as he shakingly gripped his test sheet. "Thanks."

x

"Wow, Tsu-kun, that's amazing!" Nana Sawada cried happily as she smothered her son with a hug. "Tonight we'll have hamburgers!"

The scent of hamburgers soon drifted throughout the house, brining two little jumpy children and one adult to the kitchen. Tsuna smiled, quickly saying his thanks before heading to his room, begging off with, "I have a lot of homework."

When he returned to his room, a solemn Kyouya sat perched on his bed, like a statue that was meant to be there.

"Thanks," Tsuna said, plopping his butt down beside him, "Your tutoring helped me a lot. I even got a 90 on my test today."

"Hn," he replied a bit smugly, and in complete satisfaction.

"Where'd you go today, anyways?"

"Nowhere," said Kyouya elusively, in a tone that meant he didn't want to be asked further.

"Oh." So Tsuna didn't ask further, simply staring down at his burger. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Kyouya before splitting it down the middle. "Here, try it."

_Dear Diary,_

_Shinigami like hamburgers._


	4. One Summer's Day

**04. One Summer's Day**

_One Summer's Day – Joe Hisaishi_

T-Minus 26 Days

Today begins in homeroom, because everything always, _always _begins in Reborn-sensei's class, though Tsuna wasn't quite sure why. He laid his head down on the desk, _his _desk, like every other desk placed in pin-straight lines going up and down the class. Just like every other class... only, it wasn't. Because Tsuna actually liked this class. Because for the first time in a long time, Tsuna felt welcomed and accepted and above all else: safe.

Children are cruel sometimes, and Tsuna knows that well. As a kid, he was often excluded. He'd hang his head dejectedly, and press his nails so hard into his skin they left little moon crescents, a reminder of his loneliness. He'd bite down on his bottom lip, trying to distract himself from the hot tears that sprung to eyes more often than not. Growing up, everything only got worse. Exclusion turned into teasing and then eventually to bullying. Now, during his second year of middle school, Tsuna found himself friends with _three _of the school's idols. And it had all started in Reborn's class with that one seemingly stupid project that lumped them all together and forced them to cooperate. Sometimes Tsuna would pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, to make sure this warmth and happiness was, in fact, real.

"Tsuna, are you okay?"

Tsuna weakly glanced up at the tall figure looming over him. Yamamoto. "I don't get the math," he explained, pouting. Reborn-sensei had just assigned them homework, no less than a hundred sheets, all due for tomorrow.

Yamamoto grinned, "Haha, same here. Do you think we could convince Gokudera to teach us later?"

"Maybe," Tsuna blinked. That wasn't a bad idea. Gokudera – though he didn't look like it, – was easily the smartest person in his class, and in his grade. How? He didn't know. Just last year a new student had transferred to Namimori Middle School, a total enigma complete with exotic silver hair and green eyes. His manner of speech was as sharp as his cynical eyes, and the stand-off-ish attitude he had seemed to attract the attention he hated so much.

"Do you mind asking him?" Yamamoto asked sheepishly.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, had grown up in Namimori, much like Tsuna. He was friendly and good-natured, a person people flocked to because of his rejuvenating incandescence that captivated everyone. Being around Yamamoto was so easy and effortless; it was just so inexplicably tranquil.

"Eh?" Tsuna blinked, "Why?"

"He likes you better," Yamamoto replied, looking a bit distant, "He has like... a soft spot for you under all that coldness."

Tsuna stared up at Yamamoto for a moment, before forcing himself up and over to Gokudera on the other side of the classroom, dragging his feet along the floor all the way. He wouldn't deny it; Gokudera could be a bit intimidating at times. Thank God he seemed to be on his good side. Tentatively, he approached the silveret, who was hunched over and furiously scribbling down answers to the questions, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "U-um–"

"What?" Gokudera snapped harshly, before looking up. His face fell immediately, and his voice softened considerably, "O-oh, it's you."

"Y-yeah."

Maybe Yamamoto was right...

"What's up?"

"Ah, so, I don't get any of this," Tsuna stated bluntly, holding up a blank sheet as proof, "Would you be willing to teach me after school?" Before the other could reply, he clapped his hands together, "Please?"

Because things _always _start in Reborn's class, even if it was just in the subtlest of ways.

x

"You never said they were coming," Gokudera grunted as he jabbed a thumb at the two figures behind him.

"It's fine," Tsuna said dismissively as he surveyed the rectangular table, which was perfectly situated by a large window. He instantly perked up when he saw petite and soft-spoken Kyoko.

Earlier, he had made his way back to Yamamoto with an affirmative (though, he did leave out the fact Yamamoto would be coming) when Kyoko had skipped over and overheard their plans. And he couldn't just _not _invite her – though, he wasn't sure if she would make it. Something about checking up on her brother who had suddenly developed urges to climb bath houses... but that, of course, was another story.

Gokudera rolled his eyes in a less-than-subtle way, and Tsuna's heart nearly skipped a beat when Gokudera sat down on Yamamoto's side, leaving the only available seat... next to Kyoko. Yamamoto grinned at him and Gokudera raised an eyebrow playfully, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. At that point, it became all too apparent to Tsuna. He loved his friends. He really did. They were the absolute best people in the world.

And as best friends, Yamamoto and Gokudera would do whatever it took to make Tsuna happy. So when an opportunity arose like this, they would have to be insane not to take advantage of it.

"...and then you divide it like this. Understand?"

Two blank faces stared back at Gokudera who sighed. "Sasagawa, you seem to have a good grasp on everything, would you mind teach Tsuna while I teach this baseball idiot? I think individual tutoring would be more affective..." Gokudera paused to glare accusingly at Yamamoto, "Especially with this guy."

Kyoko smiled and Tsuna blushed, "Sure."

"Part 2 – complete," said Yamamoto happily as he leaned into Gokudera.

The two high-fived discreetly under the table.

"Yeah," Gokudera replied. The two watched the other two as they huddled closely together over a shared textbook. Kyoko was using her pencil to point something out to Tsuna on the page, and Tsuna's face was twisted in puzzlement. It was so blatantly obvious to everyone that Tsuna liked Kyoko – except to maybe Kyoko, herself.

Of course, this all started back at the beginning of the year when Reborn had assigned them that project. Gokudera, admittedly, didn't like Tsuna at first, but the little stuttering bundle of messy caramel hair and large honey eyes grew on him. He was like a lost child in a big scary world – it was hard to not to feel protective over him. As for Yamamoto – Gokudera was sure he felt the same way. They had gotten along instantly because Yamamoto always gets along with _everyone_.

"Alright, which part don't you get?"

After a few minutes, Gokudera pushed himself up from his chair and the table, trying to seem frustrated, and muttered, "I need a break from this guy," under his breath. Tsuna and Kyoko looked at him in acknowledgement before Gokudera left.

Just outside the library, Gokudera reached into his pocket and pulled out his favourite red lighter and a cigarette. As he brought it to his lips, a voice interrupted him.

"That's very bad for you, you know."

He knew it was a terrible habit, smoking, but it still contented him. He tried to quit when Tsuna pleaded him to stop and continuously reminded him of the repercussions, but he always found himself unconsciously reaching for another one when he was musing and mulling things over. He did his very best not to smoke around them – it could damage _their _health.

Gokudera glanced at the short girl who stood in front of him. Her arms were crossed in definite defiance and she jutted out her bottom lip disapprovingly. He rolled his eyes.

"It's none of your damn business, woman," he said brusquely. He expected her to leave. His rather harsh manner often scared people, but when she didn't, he was momentarily stunned.

"Hahi! That's rude! Haru-chan was just trying to help you!"

Gokudera rolled his eyes again. "Tch. Just leave me alone."

When the girl refused to budge, Gokudera took a long drag of his cigarette. Most likely just in spite of her.

x

Yamamoto frowned, and Yamamoto never frowned.

From the table inside the library, he could see Gokudera on the other side of the window. He could see a very cute brunette girl pouting as she spoke, and he could see him coolly reply. His head was propped up on his hand as he observed. That was definitely _not _part of the plan.

The third and final piece of the Tsuna and Kyoko puzzle was for Gokudera to slip out quietly and as inconspicuously as possible. A few minutes later, Yamamoto would make an excuse – he had to go use the washroom or something – and make his exit as well. Then they would leave together, and it would end up just being Tsuna and Kyoko. They were intending on telling Tsuna that one of them felt sick tomorrow in class.

Gokudera chatting up that girl?

_Not part of the plan. _

In all honesty, it wasn't like there were any rules forbidding him to speak to anyone, but regardless, it irked Yamamoto just a little bit.

Gokudera put out his cigarette.

Yamamoto blinked.

...for her?

The girl flashed a bright smile.

For her.

x

Where was Yamamoto? It had been at least ten minutes, and he still wasn't out yet. Gokudera had been forced to listen to the girl, Haru-chan – as she liked to call herself, chirp away and talk about whatever teenage girls talk about. Who still even referred to themselves in third person? Screw it. He was going back inside. He really couldn't stand here and pretend to be listening to her any longer while he waited.

Bastard.

"Why are you following me?" Gokudera asked rather irritably as he headed back to their table.

"Hm. I don't know, Haru-chan's a bit bored right now," she said in a sing-song voice, skipping behind him. Gokudera groaned inwardly. He really shouldn't have put out that cigarette. As they approached the table, Yamamoto grinned idiotically.

"Wow, Gokudera, you move fast. Who's the cute girl?"

A light pink painted itself over Haru's cheeks at the compliment, "Miura Haru. Please call me Haru-chan."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi."

Gokudera twitched and pressed his lips into a thin line as Tsuna and Kyoko introduced themselves.

What was _with_ all that flirting, especially right after he _failed _to carry out his part of the plan!

God, Yamamoto was so stupid sometimes.

Shortly after, Haru had excused herself to go find the book she was looking for, and Yamamoto quickly trailed after her. Gokudera gritted his teeth.

"Here, Haru-chan, I'll get that for you," Yamamoto said smoothly as he reached up and grabbed a book. Haru let her outstretched arm fall down, and her heels touch the floor. He chuckled lightly, "You're pretty small, huh?"

Her expression twisted. It was a fact that Yamamoto practically towered over her, but she stared at him defiantly, "I'm not _that _short."

His hand came down and patted the top of her head teasingly. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Haru-chan."

The way the stood together seemed so natural. Their stances were comfortable and easy, like they've known each other for years. Their constant, exuberant smiles seemed to complement each other ineffably well. Gokudera chided himself for thinking such trivial, stupid things... Nevertheless the fact they seemed like a good couple got on his nerves ever so slightly.

"Eh? Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna looked at him worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why?" he replied just a bit more defensive than he would have liked. Was he that transparent?

"Your face is pinched up more than usual."

Kyoko giggled at the comment; Gokudera twitched.

"Watch what you say," he warned.

In the few moments he was distracted, Yamamoto and Haru returned.

"Hey, Gokudera," Haru flipped open the magazine she held in her hands, "When's your birthday?"

He twirled a pencil in one hand and raised an eyebrow, "September 9th, why?"

Haru hummed softly as she consulted the magazine, "Let's see, that makes you a... Virgo! Um... _There may be someone in your life who is kind of like your security blanket. This person, in some way, small or large, makes you feel secure and at ease. You may run into this person whenever you need a sounding board, guidance or a shoulder to cry on. But there may be so much more to this person, and if you were to try to take a deeper interest in your relationship, it might bring you greater joy._"

"Eh? My horoscope?"

"Yup!"

"Ah, how nice, Gokudera-kun," Kyoko replied politely, "You have someone to rely on!"

"Haru-chan," Yamamoto said, as he leaned over the table and towards her, "Do me next! April 24th."

Haru's finger traced the magazine page with great concentration, "April... April – Taurus! _Someone you know – someone you think you know quite well – isn't showing his or her true feelings. You believe you can easily see and/or predict this person's moods, but you aren't quite as tuned in to them as you think you are. Therefore, you may get a strange or exaggerated reaction to a non-issue today. If so, you need to consider that it is reflective of some emotion or anger that is lying beneath the surface. Because otherwise, this individual will go on as usual, not giving any hints. If you address a potential problem in a straightforward way, you'll eliminate the tension._"

"Ehh," Yamamoto mused aloud, "I wonder what that means..."

"It means you're going to get laid sometime soon," a man said as he slid over on a rolly-chair.

He sat backwards, leaning his chest against the back of the chair, and resting his arms and head on top. He was clearly older than them but still had a certain boyish charm; one might have guessed that he was roughly the age of a college student.

Four simultaneous blushes made their way onto everyone's cheeks, and the man laughed. "You guys are too cute."

He stared at the quartet with a lazy grin and piercing azure eyes, behind the dark brown, rectangular glasses perched on – but sliding down – his nose.

The man spun around on his chair once.

"Who are you?" Gokudera finally asked a bit incredulously. He was already quite upset about the whole Haru thing. _How many new people were they going to meet?_

"A man of many words, you could say," the man said, dramatically clutching his chest, "A soul continually searching for knowledge, a collector and lender of all written pieces, a –"

"Librarian," Gokudera finished for him. He rolled his eyes.

"That too," he replied, his grin never wavering. "So yeah, hey, I'm Giotto."

"Piss off," the silveret replied sharply.

"Hey, hey," Giotto said. He raised his hands up defensively, "Make love, not war."

"Don't be so rude, Gokudera," Haru scolded, and then she smiled too sweetly at Giotto. "Nice to meet you. I'm Haru."

Giotto grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it lightly, "Enchanted. But don't worry my dear," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows, paying no attention to the fact that Haru pulled her hand back at lightning speed, "I like them feisty."

"R-right."

"Shouldn't you get back to work and leave us alone?" Gokudera snapped. "We're trying to do math."

Yamamoto looked at Gokudera. Was he trying to get this Giotto person away from Haru...?

"Oh? It didn't seem like that to me," he replied. "What are the rest of your names?"

"Kyoko."

"...Tsuna."

"Haha, Yamamoto – and this is Gokudera."

"Oh! So, that reminds me: I have a coupon for the new cake shop that just opened down the street, it expires today, and I don't think I'll be able to make it. So, here, you can have it."

He handed Haru a slip of paper.

"Really?" she asked, eyes brightening. Giotto nodded. "Thank you so much! I've wanted to try this cake shop!"

"Oh, I have a coupon too," Kyoko said quickly, standing up, "Haru, let's go together."

The two girls smiled, linked arms, and left the library for cake.

Tsuna groaned and hung his head dejectedly. _Kyoko-chan_... Well, he didn't blame them for wanting to leave. The librarian was, you know, just a _tad _bit... abnormal. Strange. Creepy, even.

An air of awkward silence settled around them.

Finally, Giotto spoke, "So I guess my plan worked. You guys should congratulate me."

"You wanted to get rid of them?" Yamamoto asked, puzzled.

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because I like boys better," Giotto winked.

"Are... are you a homo?" Gokudera asked, stating the thought on everyone's mind.

Giotto pursed his lips and looked thoughtful, "Nope."

"B-but you like boys better?"

"Eh, I like girls, too. It's just that yours seemed boring." He spun around on his chair again and laughed. "I'm not hitting on any of you, don't worry. I have a boyfriend... oh, and not to mention: it's kind of illegal."

"So what _are _you doing?" Tsuna asked, speaking for the first time.

"I'm just bored," he pouted at Tsuna. "I'm sorry for sending your little girlfriend away."

"S-she's not my g-girlfriend!" Tsuna stuttered, turning red.

Giotto's grin widened. "A secret love? Those were the good days," he said nostalgically, "Middle school, right? First loves, first heartbreaks, and all the good mushy stuff in between. Have you confess to her yet?"

Tsuna's once brightly coloured face paled.

"N-no. Y-you can tell... that I l-like... her?"

Yamamoto blinked and placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, "Tsuna, _everyone _knows."

"You'd have to be blind not to be able to tell," Gokudera continued.

"You're an open book," Giotto added. "No, let me correct myself: you're easier to read than a picture book."

Tsuna banged his head on the desk – which he immediately regretted after because ouch, that _hurt_. He was so stupid. Kyouya had been able to tell right away as well. Good lord. Everyone knew? D-did that mean...?

"No, she doesn't know," Gokudera answered, reading his mind. But still, he refused to lift his head. "She's, no offence, quite dense... I doubt she picked up on your... not-so-subtle crush."

"Oh, but don't worry about it, kid," Giotto cooed, "I'm sure you have a chance with her."

"Yeah, Tsuna!" Yamamoto agreed easily.

"Impossible," Tsuna said flatly. It really was.

"You can't give up just yet," Yamamoto said which, actually, was very typical of Yamamoto. If he didn't get what he wanted the first time, he tried until he did. He was one of those people who believed if they put more effort into something, they could achieve what they wanted – and usually, they did.

"Neither can you," Giotto commented with a wink.

Yamamoto stared at him with confusion.

"You know," Giotto nudged him, "Your love. Your horoscope even said so. There's been a great tension bubbling under the surface between you and someone's relationship!" Giotto suddenly turned dramatic, "It's causing uneasy tension and unnecessary distress! You must address this problem as soon as possible and rekindle your love!"

"Haha... ha," Yamamoto smiled politely. He really wasn't sure what the man was talking about, and he didn't really believe in horoscopes either. "I'll be sure to do that..."

"And you," Giotto exclaimed as though he just discovered something, he pointed a finger at Gokudera, "Need to give someone a chance."

"Good lord, how long have you been listening in for!"

Gokudera ran a hand through his hair. He didn't need to give anyone a chance! That stupid woman who hung off of Yamamoto? No thanks! It was already a miracle that he was what you'd call "friends" with Yamamoto and Tsuna. He didn't need anyone else. They were plenty. He'd be perfectly contented on his own as well. And now some stranger kept intruding?

"Eh," Giotto contemplated, only irking Gokudera more, "Long enough, I suppose. But anyways, yeah, about giving someone a chance – you totally should. Maybe you should give more people chances, not everyone in this world is bad. Not everyone has hidden intentions. You don't need to be wary of everyone. Oh, hey, you could start with me. Hi. I'm Giotto."

Gokudera turned his head the other way.

"Ehi," said a low voice. _Hey_. "Non girare intorno." _Don't turn around. _"Non ignorare me. Si parla italiano giusta?" _Don't ignore me. __You speak Italian, right?_

Oh. Well. That certainly piqued his interest. With furrowed brows creasing his face, Gokudera tentatively spoke, "Si..." _Yes._

"Bene. Quindi non mi sbagliavo. Sono un guidice veramente buono di carettere, sai?" _Good. So I wasn't wrong. I'm a really good judge of character you know. _

Yamamoto and Tsuna cocked their heads at the hushed conversation, not understanding a single word.

"Come fai a sapere italiano?" Gokudera asked, puzzled. _How do you know Italian?_

Giotto smiled. "L'ho imparato per una persona speciale." _I learned it for someone special. _

"Chi?" _Who? _

"Qualcuno che amo molto." _Someone I love very much._

Gokudera rolled his eyes again, and turned away again, almost like he was flustered. He felt someone grab his wrist.

"Ora, andiamo, no adire in questo modo." Giotto said gently, _come on, don't act this way._

"Che modo?" he asked, challenging. _What way?_

"A nessuno piace amaro, sarcastico persone. Ho detto che era un buon giudice di carattere, e vedo che non sei davvero cosi. Non il insensible tuo cuore perche tu eri fatto male una volta. Non si vuole che diventi un nervo morto." _Nobody likes bitter, sarcastic people. I said I was a good judge of character, and I can see you're not really like this. Don't numb your heart because you were hurt once. You don't want it to become a dead nerve. _And then finally, in English, "Let's be friends, okay?"

He held out his hand and Gokudera eyed it suspiciously which made Giotto sigh. He grabbed Gokudera's hand anyways and shook.

"Now, that wasn't so hard was it?"

The agitated silveret grunted, slightly succumbing to the blond's charm.

Giotto turned to Tsuna, "Is he always like this?"

Tsuna only sheepishly smiled in return. He was, but he wasn't going to say that aloud. Who knew what Gokudera would do to him?

"Is there someone you're really close with?" Giotto questioned Gokudera.

"...Tsuna and Yamamoto," he replied dully.

Giotto persisted, "Anyone who makes your heart go _doki-doki_?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know! Like, make your heart sprint, or your stomach do gymnastics."

"Sorry, I didn't realize my internal organs did sports," he responded, with a little less ferocity.

The two stared each other down.

Yamamoto and Tsuna exchanged looks of understanding in the midst of the awkward tension.

"Oh, it looks like I have to go," Giotto said as he glanced out the window. On the other side was a man who was probably around the same age as Giotto. He had pretty pale skin that was partially flushed from the wind, pretty dark red hair appeared from under his cap and he had a small pretty, albeit demure, smile. He wore rather baggy clothes, but seemed to be underweight and almost sickly. He waved bashfully at Giotto. "That was fun, kids. Thanks for killing time."

"Who's that?" Yamamoto asked, waving at the man.

"Cozarto," he replied happily, "I shouldn't keep him waiting, he's prone to colds."

"La vostra persona speciale?" Gokudera asked, his voice a low whisper. _Your special person?_

"Si," Giotto answered simply. Happily. Blissfully._ Yes._

After ruffling everyone's hair, and quickly scribbling down some numbers on a notebook, Giotto departed.

The trio watched as Giotto ran up to Cozarto and pecked him on the lips. Cozarto blushed and lowered his eyes, Giotto laughed. He turned to the window and mouthed something Tsuna and Yamamoto couldn't quite catch. But that was fine, because the person who he had meant to receive the message, received it perfectly.

x

Soon after Giotto left, the three of them decided to go as well. Most of their homework was done, and it was getting late. Yamamoto and Gokudera quickly said their goodbyes to Tsuna who had dashed off as he lived in a different direction.

Yamamoto and Gokudera walked together, side-by-side, in silence. Yamamoto walked along the edge of the sidewalk, concentrating on not falling off. The air smelt like spring, a vibrant green colour was returning to the grass, flowers were blooming and the two of them smiled contentedly.

_If I see a red car, _Gokudera thought to himself, _I'll give someone a chance._

And just like that, a red car passed.

Eventually, they passed Yamamoto's house, but Yamamoto didn't stop. Gokudera looked up at Yamamoto questioningly, but Yamamoto only smiled and said, "I'll walk you home."

Gokudera didn't press any further. After all, he was supposed to be giving people chances.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I'd like to say thank you to everyone for their patience and for completely tricking you with my not-so-fourth chapter two-three weeks ago. But I've revised all of the chapters. I promised an update before December, and I've updated. I've stretched and thought, "Wow, I did something I was supposed to." So, thank you for your support! Really, it means a ton! *tears up*

Let's see. What else...? There's some Italian in there just 'cause it's sexy. LOL. I don't speak Italian, so I thank Google Translator, even though it's pretty unreliable. I hope I don't offend any Italians with it, haha. And don't worry, it's not an 8059 fic, so this chapter will pretty much be the only chapter so focused on them. I'm also contemplating on whether or not there should be more Giotto and Cozart just 'cause I adore them. :] I'll leave it up to you guys!

Oh, I think I'm going to try doing a couple of my own original stories sometime soon, would anyone be interested in reading them? Yaoi & just normal straight romances. :3 I think I may also write another story for another fandom – anybody else like Nezushi? [Nezumi and Shion from No.6?] I completely fell in love with them in the summer!

So yeah! How is everyone? How are things going for you? School, work, whatever, let me know! :] It's been months and months. So on a final note, it's the holiday season! I hope everyone enjoys it!

P.S. To those who read my author notes, I love you even moar!


	5. Bolero

**05. Bolero**

_Bolero – Ravel_

T-Minus 26 Days (Continuation)

"Kyouya," Tsuna called out meekly as he opened the door to his room, "I've brought food!"

He surveyed the silent room, noting that it was _indeed _empty. He sighed and placed his plate (which was mounted twice as full as it normally was – half for Kyouya, of course) on his desk.

Tsuna pouted.

Well, that was no fun. His Shinigami had disappeared again. As odd as the thought was, he did feel a bit disappointed that death wasn't waiting for him in his bedroom.

Earlier in the library, Tsuna was sure that he had seen Kyouya outside the library windows as Kyoko was attempting to teach him. He wasn't completely sure, but really now, how many teenagers went out completely dressed in black and with wings? But it had only been for a split second, and he hadn't seen his face. This was all before Kyoko nudged him and asked him what he was staring at, before Gokudera left, before he met Miura Haru and Giotto.

Tsuna flipped through a comic book idly. He didn't really want to eat when Kyouya wasn't there with him.

Unable to focus on the typical shounen plot, Tsuna tossed the comic book aside and pressed his lips into a thin line.

x

"Oya oya, Kyouya," Mukuro smirked, "You sure are visiting me a lot. Twice in one week? What's the occasion?"

"Shut up, you stupid Pineapple," Kyouya said without any real zeal, "I'm only here because it got boring watching the boy."

"Boring?"

Kyouya groaned, "The two – him and his little crush – have got to be the most oblivious people on this earth. They kept staring at each other secretly and blushing, only neither of them noticed the other!"

"Oya, did they now?" Mukuro's devilish smirk widened and he raised his eyebrows, "That's kind of what it's like to be in love, young Kyouya."

Kyouya snorted, "Humans are stupid when they're in love. You said I've probably had something like it, this disgusting _love _thing, but I've come to a conclusion. In my past life, I didn't. I definitely didn't. I would have been too smart for that."

Mukuro frowned.

"Who would want any association with those weak, weak herbivores they call humans?"

"Well..."

x

Tsuna flipped open his math notebook and leafed through the pages when large numbers caught his eye. Underneath the rushed numbers was a name.

_Giotto_.

Tsuna ran his fingers over the numbers, feeling the dents in the notebook caused by pen. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an orange phone. Flipping it open, Tsuna quickly entered the numbers into his contacts. He... he should probably send him a message, right? To be polite and all? Tsuna pressed his lips into a line of contemplation. But the Giotto man was quite strange... Even so, it wouldn't kill him to send a simple text...

**To: Giotto  
>Subject: Hi<br>****Message: Hi, Giotto-san. It's Tsuna, if you remember me, haha.**

He pressed send. There. What's done is done. No point in fretting. And with that, he tucked his cell into his pocket again.

His entire world had turned upside down since Kyouya came. He fainted – and more than once, got threatened by teachers and met sketchy characters. How many days has it been, anyway?

Monday_, _Tsuna thought, counting on his fingers, Tuesday, Wednesday, and today is Thursday.

Tsuna looked at the four fingers he held up. Four days. He bit his bottom lip; the Shinigami had been here for four days already. If four days were down, how many were left to go? He had honestly been suppressing the idea since Kyouya told him... It was so hard to believe, but... but he really was going to die, wasn't he?

There were so many things he wanted to do; things he hasn't experienced yet, and now life was going to be taken from him?

He hadn't learned to drive, he hadn't had his first kiss, he hadn't travelled around Europe like he wanted. But when he thought about all those things, they seemed rather pointless and trivial. Out of everything, the thing he wanted the most was to continue his peaceful, lazy days with his friends and family – very much like today. He wanted Yamamoto to teach him baseball, he wanted to listen to Gokudera play piano, he wanted to eat his mom's cooking and avoid Bianchi's. He wanted to play with I-Pin and help Lambo grow up as a good person (as impossible as that task sounded.)

He wasn't ready to die. But then again, _nobody _really is ready to die.

_Maybe I should make some sort of list? _

Tsuna pulled out a ball-point pen and a scrap piece of paper and sat at his desk. He toyed with the idea of a bucket list. He began scribbling messily, easily filling the sheet, when suddenly from behind him a voice spoke...

"What's that?"

Tsuna jumped and let out a small scream.

"Kyouya! Don't do that!" Tsuna whined. "That scared me –"

A knock on his door interrupted him, and they both turned their heads in that direction.

"Tsu-kun?" Nana called from the other side, her voice slightly muffled.

"Y-yeah?"

Nana poked her head in worriedly. "What was that scream about?"

"...uh. The – I... I was watching a horror anime and a character scared me..."

Nana stared pointedly at Tsuna's small television, which, in fact, was turned off.

"I-in my head!" Tsuna said quickly, flushing at how stupid that sounded, even to him. "I watched it in my head! I... uh, sometimes think of anime scenarios! I think I might want to go into the anime business, you know? Hahaha..."

Kyouya's mouth twitched upwards, a small bout of coughs escaping his throat in attempt to contain his laughter.

Thankfully, Nana didn't laugh. She didn't inquire any further either. She simply shrugged and left the room, contented with the fact her precious son was alright. As she closed the door behind her, she sighed. Maybe Iemitsu needed to come home more, Tsuna needed a male parental figure in his life.

Back inside Tsuna's room, Tsuna sighed as well. Tsuna loved that woman. He really did.

He jabbed an accusing finger at Kyouya. "That was your fault! Completely your fault! Mom probably thinks I've gone crazy now."

"You can see Shinigami," Kyouya pointed out, crossing his arms, "You're pretty abnormal already."

Tsuna frowned. It wasn't like he had asked to be able to see things that he never believe existed – or for Kyouya to take things meant solely for his eyes. "That's your fault, too."

"How?"

"It just is."

Kyouya sighed, before continuing his previous prodding, "Anyways, what's that?"

Tsuna quickly folded the sheet of paper on his desk and attempted to hide it behind his back, "N-nothing."

"Your journal?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Worse. It was everything he wanted to do – and every single one of them was personal. It was like exposing your heart to an audience, laying everything out for people to see. The mere thought of their reactions was entirely terrifying.

"N-no... it's nothing, don't worry ab–hey!"

Before he had the chance to finish speaking, the Shinigami had breezed by him, picked of the sheet, and began reading it. Tsuna lunged for it, but Kyouya smirked and held it up, sometimes dangling it in front of his face.

"Now, now, don't scream again, _Tsu-kun_, you wouldn't want your mommy to come back, would you?" he teased, waving the piece of paper above Tsuna who promptly flushed. "Too short, hn?"

"S-shut up!" Tsuna cried as he jumped, attempting to reach the sheet. "I _yelped_, not _screamed_. Get it right."

"Sure, of course you didn't," he replied. The sarcasm lacing each of his words didn't go unnoticed.

He unfolded the crinkled piece of paper and began reading despite Tsuna's rampant protests.

"_One,_" Kyouya read aloud, and Tsuna's face flushed red with embarrassment and mortification. H-he didn't need to read it aloud! It wasn't like he didn't already know what was on the list! "_Change someone's life... for the better._"

"Kyouya," Tsuna pleaded, covering his red face with his hands. He could feel the warmth from his cheeks on his palms, but the liquid smooth voice he had come to known continued ruthlessly.

"_Two, write a letter to Dad."_

"Stop!"

"_Three, watch the sakura trees with everyone."_

"Stopstopstop!"

"_Four, see the sunset with someone I like."_

A light bulb went off in Tsuna's head. Oh, no... that meant... that meant the next one would be – "Ah!" Tsuna cried as he tackled Kyouya onto his bed. They both fell onto the sheets with a soft thud and Tsuna laid on top of Kyouya, hiding against Kyouya's chest. Kyouya held the crumpled bucket list in his hand, his arm pinned down at the wrist by Tsuna's own hand. Tsuna hand squeezed Kyouya's wrist tightly, praying that he hadn't seen the last item.

But it was no use. A little breathlessly, Kyouya recited, "_Five, fall in love."_

Tsuna tensed at his words momentarily, body going rigid before falling limp. Number five had caught them both off-guard, and Kyouya didn't comment that Tsuna was leaning entirely on him. Tsuna's grip on Kyouya loosened in defeat and there was silence.

"Serious love," he mumbled against Kyouya.

"Hn?"

"Serious love," Tsuna repeated in clarification. "Not just a little crush."

He lifted his head up to stare at Kyouya and pushed stray hair out of his eyes. He wasn't even sure why he was explaining this, especially after a breach in his privacy, but he felt almost _compelled _to tell Kyouya. He smiled sheepishly, "I was going to write marriage, but I kind of thought that it was a bit unrealistic for a 15-year-old boy."

Unsure of what to say, Kyouya remained mute. Unsure of whether to cry or to laugh, Tsuna shrugged it off.

"Oh, and for the record, I'm mad at you."

x

_Dear Diary,_

_Shinigami are sadists who don't value privacy. _

_...yes, said Shinigami is reading over my shoulder right now._

x

T-Minus 25 Days

Kyouya scowled. Since of last night, his stupid herbivore hadn't said a word to him. He ignored him in favour of a manga volume, didn't respond when Kyouya chided him at night, pulling his blanket overtop of his face, and sealed his lips when he threatened him over breakfast, walked to school staring straight ahead, and it was incredibly frustrating. These humans were so petty.

He even had offered to help with the list!

It wasn't his fault, either. Definitely not. That very notion was absurd on its own. If someone began to suspiciously try to hide something, anybody would curious, right? It was like yelling "Hey, I've got a secret but I'm not telling you!" And it was hardly a secret at all.

But then again, Kyouya grimaced, he had always been rather apathetic before. Why did he care what that herbivore was hiding? Why did he care if he was speaking to him or not? It wasn't like him to show any sort of interest. He had been on plenty of missions before, he should have been used to it. He had been on this earth for a long time, why was it only now he was so enthralled? What was it exactly that seemed to be so much more intriguing about the kid?

Sure, they were able to communicate. However, what caused him to reach out to Tsuna that first night?

"Alright," Reborn's voice boomed. "You all remember Monday is your semi-formal, right?" Reborn asked during homeroom as he leaned back on his chair. He observed his class.

A "yes" was said in unison.

"And you're all going, right?"

"It's not mandatory, _sensei_," Gokudera said, boredly staring at his nails.

"It's not required," Reborn agreed, but then smirked, "But I got roped into supervising so you all have to suffer with me. If you don't go, I'll deduct ten points from your final grade, and that's a promise."

"Can you even do that?" Gokudera rebutted.

Reborn clicked his tongue, "Watch me."

Nearly all of the students groaned, including Tsuna. He banged his head on his desk as well, for emphasis.

"What's a semi-formal?" asked Kyouya, who sat on the desk of some poor, ignorant student beside Tsuna's.

Tsuna opened his mouth to reply, but then remembered there were other people around him that _couldn't _see Kyouya. Oh, and he was mad. But Kyouya seemed to be getting upset by his silent treatment, so he tried to write a reply as inconspicuously as possible... only, Kyouya didn't seem to realize that.

"Herbivore," he said a little louder. "I asked you a question."

Tsuna waved his hand, attempting to get him to look at his notebook. A person across the room stared at Tsuna confusedly before waving back. Tsuna stared back with an _Are-You-Serious? _look.

"Don't dismiss me, herbivore," Kyouya said angrily, tonfas already in hand. "I know you said you were mad, but really."

Tsuna's eyes widened and he banged his desk slightly, circling his answer over and over.

"That's it, herbi–_oh_."

_It's a dance_. _You get food and pictures and it's supposed to be 'fun.' _

"It's not?"

Tsuna shook his head.

_You just get dressed up and it turns out to be boring. Gokudera and Yamamoto are always surrounded by girls._

"What about you?"

_Haha that's funny Kyouya. _

"What is?" Kyouya asked stiffly. "By the way, you're missing commas."

Tsuna mentally face-palmed.

_I, can't, talk, to, girls._

"Stop being so childish."

_I'm not._

Kyouya snapped his fingers and pointed at a pretty brunette girl at the front of the class. "Go ask that Kyoko girl to go with you."

_What! I couldn't..._

"Why not? It's on your list, after all, right? To fall in love?"

_What list? _Tsuna wrote partially in spite, and partially because he really didn't want to remember it.

From somewhere on his black kimono, Kyouya produced the lined sheet of paper from the previous night. He smoothed out the creases, and Tsuna paled. Kyouya cleared his voice, completely prepared to recite – and Tsuna knew it too. The last thing he needed was for his class watch him attack air (and probably get beaten up as well.)

_...oh. That list._

"So, you could fall in love with her, right? You already like her."

_Go away. We'll talk about it later. _

Sulkingly, Kyouya obliged.

x

Up on Nami Middle's roof, Tsuna sat against the chain-linked fence with Gokudera and Yamamoto. It was lunch and Gokudera was moaning about the dance.

"Maybe I should pretend to be sick," he said.

Yamamoto hummed. "Maybe, but don't you think Reborn-sensei would send you to Shamal-sensei?"

Gokudera groaned, "It's disgusting that you would even refer to him as _sensei_. I've known him since I was young and refuses to treat even me."

Shamal-sensei had a bit of a reputation as a skirt chaser, even though he was the school's nurse. He only tended to girls – not that girls would go near him, – and strictly refused to treat boys. Even if someone was on the verge of death, he would probably hand him a band-aid and tell him to man up, like he did with every male patient that walked through his doors.

Shamal was a distant relative of Gokudera's, once _again _from this mysterious Italy. From what Gokudera told them, he was nearly always half-drunk, and never completely sober (maybe it was an Italian thing.) And despite his vast medical knowledge, he preferred not to use it.

Abruptly, there was a small beep.

Pulling his phone out, it appeared he had a new message.

**To: Tsuna  
>Subject: Re: Hi<br>****Message: Hi Tsuna! **

"Eh?" Yamamoto tilted his head to the side, "Who's that?"

"Uhm... you know the man from yesterday?"

"Giotto-san?"

"Yeah, he gave me his number."

Yamamoto blinked, "Oh! Give me his number, then! He's funny, haha."

Tsuna nodded, and his fingers quickly and aptly slid over the keys.

**To: Giotto  
><strong>**Subject: Re: Hi  
><strong>**Message: I'm giving your cell number to Yamamoto. Is that okay?**

Almost instantly, his phone chimed again, and a little dot in the upper right corner flashed, signalling a new message. Seconds after, a similar thing happened to Yamamoto, who smiled as he typed back.

**To: Tsuna  
>Subject: Re: Hi<br>****Message: Of course! But in exchange, you must tell me the Italian kid's. ;)**

Seconds later, a puzzled Gokudera furrowed his eyebrows together as his red cell phone began a piano melody.

**To: Gokudera  
>Subject: It's Giotto!<br>Message: Miss me? Tsuna gave me your number. Ehehehe.**

Gokudera threw his head back against the metal fence.

Why? Why? _Why?_

Agh.

Great.

That blond was the most arrogant and flamboyant and immature and self-righteous man he's ever known. And now, he was able to contact him. Ah-fucking-mazing.

And then, all at once, the three teens stared at the new text flashing on each of the screens.

**To: Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera  
>Subject: Haha! Look, I can message you all at once!<br>****Message: If you could do me a favour, be nice to the kid.**

At the precise moment, the bell rang; leaving no time for the trio to ponder the deeper meaning of the profound Giotto's rather ambiguous note. Tsuna shrugged his shoulders, Yamamoto laughed, and Gokudera very nearly threw his phone off the top of the school's roof.

x

Back in the classroom, a petite red-head stood at the front of the class, staring down at his shoes timidly. Comparatively, he appeared even _tinier_ if possible as Reborn stood next to him. Tsuna squinted his eyes. He looked familiar, but Tsuna couldn't put his finger on it. He had pretty pale skin (well, when it wasn't hidden under white bandages) and seemed rather thin because of how baggy the uniform was on him–

"Oh!" Tsuna blurted out before he could help himself. His eyes lit up.

Reborn, clearly irritated, stared Tsuna down, "Yes, Sawada?"

Tsuna clammed up and dug his finger nails into his palms out of habit, "N-nothing."

Him! He looked like the man Giotto left with! Tsuna looked at Yamamoto and Gokudera, wondering if they showed any signs of recognition as well. Faint traces of recognition clouded their faces.

"Anyways, as I was going to say before _Sawada_" – Reborn spat his name out and Tsuna shrunk in his seat just a little bit – "interrupted me; this is your new classmate, Enma. He's from Italy. Take care of him. Enma – you can go take that seat over there."

Tsuna sighed. Was he seriously the only one _not _from Italy?

Enma nodded and took the empty seat behind Tsuna.

"Moving on with the lesson, textbooks, page 352."

Tsuna reached into his bag which laid on the ground beside his desk and pulled out his textbook. The pencil he had tucked somewhere between the pages fell out and rolled behind him. He leaned in to pick it up, only to have bandaged fingers swoop it up and hand it to him.

"Th-thanks," Tsuna said in surprise.

Dull red-brown eyes watched him.

There was just something about Enma that made Tsuna sympathise with him. Maybe it was because Enma reminded him of himself when he was younger, he didn't really know.

But aside from that, he needed to find out if his suspicions were correct.

It was a suicide mission, but curiosity got the better of him, and Tsuna discreetly pulled his phone out, rapidly composing a message to Giotto before Reborn's hawk eyes caught him.

x

"Guys, that's who Giotto was talking about!" Tsuna said in a hushed, urgent tone. He, Gokudera and Yamamoto had formed a circle of Tsuna's desk after class. "He's that guy's younger brother... what was his name –"

"Cozart," Yamamoto supplied helpfully.

"Right."

"Oh! Let's ask him to go home with us!" Yamamoto said cheerfully, "It must be hard being new, haha."

"Che." Gokudera stared at Cozart's younger brother. He was slowly and quietly packing up his things. "I don't see why we have to. I don't even _like _the blond bastard."

"Well, just think of it as being friendly to the new student," Yamamoto smiled.

"Because I'm super friendly to everyone," Gokudera dead-panned.

"It couldn't hurt..." Tsuna interjected, "He doesn't look like he bites hard... or bites at all."

Before Gokudera could open his mouth again to protest, Yamamoto was already by Enma, chatting up a storm. He smiled and laughed and motioned in their general direction. Enma shook his head seemingly in refusal. However, Yamamoto was quite persistent. He stared the poor boy down with large brown puppy eyes until he finally, _finally _relented.

"So," Yamamoto began in attempt to break the awkward silence that seemed to engulf them after they left the school building. He placed his hands behind his head out of habit. "How do you like Nami Middle?"

Enma's reply came as a soft murmur.

Gokudera frowned disapprovingly; he already didn't like the boy.

"Could you repeat that?" Tsuna asked delicately.

Once again, Enma said something too low, too inaudible.

"Speak up," Gokudera snapped harshly. Enma didn't so much as flinch, even though Tsuna couldn't help but wince at his voice that was clear undertones of irritation.

"I... I'm not very good with Japanese," he admitted, his words painted with a colourful accent. However, it was said loudly enough to momentarily stun the three of them.

"Don't worry about it," Tsuna said and smiled endearingly after a moment, "We can still understand you."

"The school's okay. Reborn-sensei's a bit..." Enma grappled for the right words, "Intimidating."

Yamamoto hummed.

"Just a bit," Tsuna agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Review, please? (: Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you enjoy it!

For those that stick around (the very few of you, haha) thank you so much! I'm not too pleased with this chapter because I feel like it has so much conversation, and like my writing's getting worse. :l Anyways, several new things popped up in this chapter!

Contest for those who read ANs! In your review, put 'candy cane' – somewhere, anywhere – and you'll be eligible to be awarded something, haha. Oh, what will you win? Either great influence over 1827's first date, or a one-shot! This is going to go on for several chapters, each chapter with a different phrase or word, so your name can be entered more than once. Next time, it won't be underlined and blatantly obvious. :) – 


	6. Air

**06. Air**

_Air – Henry Purcell_

T-Minus 25 Days (Continuation)

"Oh, come on, Kyouya," Tsuna whined, "Don't be like that."

The ever stoic Shinigami glanced at Tsuna briefly before averting his eyes and turning his head rather conspicuously in the other direction, blatantly disregarding the other.

"Don't ignore me," Tsuna jutted his bottom lip out. He grabbed the sleeve of Kyouya's off-black kimono and tugged lightly on it like a child. "If anything, _I'm_ supposed to be giving _you _the cold shoulder."

However, this didn't seem to have any effect on the other at all, instead, he just leaned back on the chair he was sitting on, and crossed his legs. He resisted the looks he was receiving and carried on flipping pages of a magazine he wasn't really reading.

Tsuna helplessly tugged again.

"Is this about me telling you to go away at school? Kyouya, come on. I can't talk to you in public, it'll seem like I'm crazy. What if I make it up to you? I have dinner," Tsuna said, gesturing to the plate of sushi beside him.

Kyouya peeked at Tsuna, "I'm not going to be won over by food."

"But you'll get hungry eventually," Tsuna said firmly, clearly believing he had the upper-hand.

"Shinigami don't get hungry," Kyouya stated.

Tsuna's eyes widened, "T-they don't?"

Kyouya sighed impatiently, "We're dead, you know? We don't need anything, whether it is food, water, sleep or even air. _Or companionship._"

Tsuna let out a groan of frustration, "Then _why _have I been getting you food every single day? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"I didn't ask you to. And food's not that bad," Kyouya said as he swiped a piece of sushi from the plate, swallowing the thing whole.

And so, a plate of dinner later, all was forgiven.

x

_Dear Diary,_

_Shinigami don't require food to survive._

_Except I brought the stupid Shinigami dinner, and Mom caught me carrying double the amount of food I normally do. She smiled and said I was a growing boy. Bianchi saw me, too – she poked my stomach and called me fat._

x

T-Minus 24 Days

"Um, what time?" Tsuna asked, balancing his phone between his ear and his shoulder. He held up a bright t-shirt and then pressed it against himself, spinning around to check himself in the mirror. He... he didn't look fat, did he?

Sun spilled in through his window and its light danced upon everything it possibly could. It basked his room in a warm yellow, and it just _felt _like it was going to be the perfect Saturday.

Yamamoto had called, waking both Tsuna _and _Gokudera from their sleep, asking if they wanted to go shopping later for the semi formal. Rubbing his eyes, Tsuna agreed without hesitance. He _did _need something to wear to the stupid event, and since when did he ever refuse a chance to hang out with his friends?

"Eh..." came Yamamoto's voice from the other line, "How about around 1?"

Tsuna glanced at the clock on his night stand adjacent to his bed. It read 10:30.

"That's fine with me," he answered, as he frowned at his reflection. He threw the offending article of clothing onto his bed, and pulled another one off a hanger. "What about you, Gokudera?"

"Fkjsdfnsdfnm" was the slur of words, presumably Gokudera's response. Though Yamamoto and Tsuna couldn't decode it, they took it as an okay. Gokudera never was the most intelligible thing upon awakening. It normally took him a good half hour to begin thinking and speaking coherently, and coffee and his morning cigarettes to shake the sleep from him.

However, Yamamoto often roused him from his dreams as the baseball player was accustomed to mornings – even coming to like them, – because of his early practices. His vibrancy was sometimes too much, but then again, he almost always was super lively and energetic.

Tsuna fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

"Oh," Tsuna bit down on his bottom lip, knowing that the half-conscious silveret would probably hate him later, "D-do you mind if we invite Enma?"

"Not at all – if you want, I can call him. We can all pick him up later," Yamamoto suggested.

"That sounds good. Okay, then," Tsuna said slowly, "I'm gonna go."

"I'll stop by your house in a few hours with Gokudera."

"Alright! I'll see you soon!"

"Duhntrshnawanna."

A click disconnected them.

"Going out?" asked Kyouya, who had been watching him pace around his room, try on and throw off clothes, and speak animatedly into the phone.

"Yeah." Tsuna smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles on his t-shirt. "But later. You're free to do whatever you'd like then." He tugged at the bottom of his shirt and ruffled his hair.

"You look fine," Kyouya said. He suddenly appeared in the reflection of Tsuna's long, oval mirror. He stood behind the brunet and they both stared into the glass.

"Your reflection shows," Tsuna stated a bit incredulously.

"Only to you." Kyouya's breath hovered along the nape of his neck and ear, causing him to involuntarily shiver.

He lowered his eyes for a moment, before raising them again only to discover that Kyouya's steady gaze had never left. Even though it was through a mere reflection, Kyouya's stare felt heavy and intense. "L-let's get breakfast."

x

He wasn't sure why, but something in him compelled him to touch the other. He almost did it, too – he had reached his hand out and his fingers so very nearly brushed against the other pale's skin. But at the realization of what he was doing, he pulled back quickly and opted for calling his name instead.

"Gokudera," Yamamoto's voice rang, "Gokuderaaa."

The tall Japanese youth danced gracefully around the Italian's room, abruptly pulling his blinds up and throwing off his sheets. Gokudera hissed at the light that hit his face, and sluggishly pulled a pull over his head to block the sun out.

Yamamoto frowned, "Gokudera, get up. We're supposed to meet Tsuna in an hour. Come on, rise and shine!"

Gokudera distractedly groaned a slew of words, finally getting off his bed – dragging his pillow with him. He lethargically stood up and paused, yawning twice and blinking focus into his eyes.

Thirty seconds later, it dawned on him.

"When did you get here? How did you even get in?" He not-so-politely inquired, throwing the pillow across the room at the baseball player.

"I used the key you gave me," Yamamoto explained cheerfully as he expertly and effortlessly caught the pillow.

"Oh, right," Gokudera nodded and mumbled contentedly before bursting out again. "Wait! I never gave you a key!"

"Eh... well, maybe I made a copy of the key you lent me once..." Yamamoto said suggestively.

"Of course. Makes sen–hold on, you _what?_" Gokudera's eyes widened,_ "_When? Why the – you know what? Fuck this," he decided. "Fuck all of this. I'll deal with you later... right now, I need a cigarette."

Stepping out into his apartment's veranda, Gokudera fumbled with his lighter. However, he was only able to pull out a cigarette before Yamamoto closed the lighter with a disapproving frown. Gokudera contemplated yelling, arguing or getting mad, but decided he didn't have nearly enough energy at that particular moment. So, instead he shrugged and rested against the fence of his veranda, twirling the white cigarette between his long fingers.

Man, how late had he stayed up last night? He always naturally had trouble getting to sleep. Even back in Italy. He'd spent many, many nights just simply staring up at his ceiling. At some point in his life, he decided that it was a waste of time trying to fall asleep. Instead, he played the keyboard squished against one corner of his bedroom, he went out on walks, and sometimes, he would write...

However, he didn't stay up last night by his own choice, no – _Giotto, _the damn blond, had texted him _all _night, even when he was on the hazy edge of consciousness and unconsciousness. The pretentious bastard acted all-knowing and wise, supposedly giving him all these hints. It irked Gokudera. It irritated him... because it was like he knew more. And lately, it felt like there were a lot of things he didn't know and it felt like it was dangling right in front of him, but he couldn't fucking see it.

"Hey," Yamamoto said quietly, tentatively. Gokudera looked like he was quite deep in thought, but it was getting a bit awkward just standing there. Maybe he was mad about the lighter thing?

Yamamoto wouldn't deny it; Gokudera looked cool when he was smoking. It looked almost elegant when balanced between his fingers and his eyes always looked clouded with thoughts far too profound and sophisticated as he brought it up to his lips. And as much as the thought displeased him, Yamamoto had almost grown accustomed to seeing something perched between his lips, subtly drawing attention to them. It was terrible, _terrible _for his health, though, and if Yamamoto had to choose between Gokudera's enigmatic aesthetic appeal and his well-being, well-being won out easily.

"Hey, yourself," Gokudera retorted a bit weakly. He pushed as much hair back as he possibly could, securing the short silver hair with a small elastic. He stretched his arms out, and Yamamoto couldn't help but to take in his smaller-than-himself form. While he was lean and muscular, Gokudera, while also slim, seemed a bit more delicate – a bit more like Tsuna. "You... that key... it's fine if you keep that key."

"W-what?" he blinked, interrupted from his thoughts. His mind mulled over Gokudera's broken sentences. Wait. That... that meant... He... he could...?

"Nothing, nevermind," Gokudera said quickly in a flustered manner before stomping back inside.

Yamamoto squeezed _his _key to Gokudera's apartment in his hand, the key he had meant to return – but hey. He wasn't going to argue if Gokudera was okay with it.

x

Tsuna exhaled deeply as he re-stuck the sticky note on the fridge, where he originally found it. Nana's loopy cursive and smiley face stared back at him. "Kyouya, looks like mom's out with the kids." He ran a hand through his hair, "And she didn't leave food."

"Hn," Kyouya hummed in acknowledgement. He sat at the kitchen table, lying his head down on its surface.

"I-if you don't mind, I think I'm going to try to cook something. I'm kind of hungry," Tsuna said as he patted his stomach.

"You can cook?" Kyouya raised an eyebrow. This would be the first non-Nana-Sawada food he

"I can cook simple things," Tsuna said, almost like he was trying to reassure himself in addition to the raven. "I can... Of course I can..."

"So, what are you going to make?"

Tsuna bit his bottom lip... "French toast!"

He'd seen his mom make it before, how hard could it be?

x

"Gokudera, hurry up," Yamamoto rushed. He checked the watch on his left wrist, craning his head because he accidentally put it upside down. They were supposed to be at Tsuna's house in fifteen minutes and they had just finished the breakfast Yamamoto brought over.

Gokudera quickly pulled on a shirt and hopped out of his closet while tugging on a pair of dark jeans, "Yeah, yeah, ye-ahhh!"

Tripping on himself, Gokudera fell forward, landing on Yamamoto, who conveniently happened to be stationed there. They both collapsed backward onto the dark wood floor of Gokudera's room. Yamamoto was laid down, propped up on his elbows and wincing slightly because of the impact. Gokudera, for the most part, was on top of Yamamoto.

They both immediately flushed a scarlet red.

"W-watch where you're going, you baseball idiot!"

"Me? You're the one who bumped into me!"

"B-but you rushed me!"

x

"I don't think you can," Kyouya said bluntly.

"I can, I can!" Tsuna insisted.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Kyouya challenged.

"I'll figure it out!"

He stared at the spilled powder sugar on the counter, "Hn. But you've already made a mess."

"That was an accident. There won't be any more accidents, Kyouya, I assure you."

Tsuna cradled an egg in his palm carefully. _Okay, Tsuna, all you have to do is crack this into that bowl over there. Okay. You can do this. Prove stupid Kyouya wrong. _He lightly tapped the egg against the glass bowl and gave the poor ingredient a dirty look when it didn't crack. He tapped harder this time, and the egg promptly split in half, the insides quickly sliding out, along with bits of shells, into the bowl and onto the table. Kyouya peered over Tsuna's shoulder inquisitively.

"That... was on purpose."

Kyouya smirked. "Right."

An eternity later, after Tsuna had picked out all the little egg shells that managed to sneak in, Kyouya sighed. "Here," he said as he wrapped his arms around Tsuna, holding his hands, and rested his head on Tsuna's shoulder. Tsuna suddenly became all too aware of the body that was pressed against his back and wrapped around his. Kyouya gently guided Tsuna through the process, flawlessly managing to crack an egg without any shells, not noticing how pink Tsuna had become.

Kyouya then pulled away, and Tsuna let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. With shaky hands, Tsuna attempted to crack his second egg – this time, with far more success and no shell pieces.

"Look," Tsuna said, shoving the bowl in Kyouya's face, "I did it. I'm a culinary genius!"

Kyouya rolled his eyes, "Okay, okay. Good job. Now, actually make the food."

Tsuna scrambled the eggs, thankfully without making _too _much of a mess.

He added milk, _"This... this looks about right!"_

He soaked the bread in it, except for the first piece, _"How was I supposed to know how long to leave it there for! It's not my fault it fell apart! The bread was too weak!"_

He put it in the pan, only slightly burning the first few, _"That's not an accident! It was intentional! Intentional! I like burnt food..."_

And now, they sat at the table staring down at their plates of French toast coated lightly with maple syrup.

What the hell, Kyouya thought. "Thanks for the meal."

"Y-yeah," Tsuna replied a bit unsteadily.

With that, they both gingerly bit down on their first piece.

Kyouya's eyes widened in surprise. They... they weren't that bad. Not amazing, but not terrible.

Tsuna grinned triumphantly after swallowing his first bite. "I'm _definitely_ a culinary genius."

Later, as Tsuna was putting their dishes in the sink to wash, there was a knock.

"Alright, I'm leaving Kyouya," he called out into the house as he slipped on his shoes, "Be a good boy while I'm gone."

Kyouya grimaced.

x

"So, once again, I wasn't informed of this," Gokudera said bitterly as he shot daggers at Enma, who simply shrugged.

They were all on a bus headed for the Namimori shopping centre a few minutes away.

"Oh, but we did inform you," Yamamoto grinned, "On the phone, this morning."

"You play dirty." Gokudera was, of course, fully aware of his thinking capability in the morning, but that didn't make it any less unfair.

"So," Yamamoto continued, ignoring Gokudera, "I think we should all match!"

Gokudera snorted, Tsuna chuckled, and Enma showed the tiniest, teensiest bit of a smile.

"No, no, imagine it! We could all enter at the same time, and it'd look so cool!"

"That sounds fun," Enma commented quietly.

Enma's subtle encouragement seemed to spark a fervour in Yamamoto.

So half an hour later, they found themselves in some store called _Varia_ with a grouchy and yell-y sales associate who had super long silver hair. Said sales associate grumbled the entire time, like he was reciting lines – and he probably was – before he quickly ushered them into change rooms right beside each other with identical suits. He then begged off with the excuse of needing to tend to his boss' alcohol demands.

"Maybe we can all get different coloured ties?" Tsuna suggested as he examined himself. The suit was completely black in colour, and looked classy with the white-collared shirt and equally as black tie. He twirled in front of the mirror placed in the room, quite liking the fact that the suit made him appear taller. It also felt light against his frame, so that was another plus.

He heard Gokudera from some adjacent stall, "Or just different suits?"

"Why?" Tsuna asked, "What's wrong with it?"

"I look like a penguin!"

"Gokudera, come on! It'll be fun!" Yamamoto protested. "Stop being such a party-pooper."

Gokudera grunted. "It won't be _fun_, it's a stupid dance."

"Enma agrees with me!" Yamamoto shouted.

Enma laughed softly in agreement and Gokudera reluctantly gave in, "Fine. You owe me, baseball idiot."

"So we'll all get this suit?" Yamamoto beamed.

"...I guess," Gokudera sighed.

Tsuna smiled contentedly. This shopping trip turned out _much_ easier than expected. He shrugged off the black jacket and began unbuttoning his white shirt from the collar downwards.

He was pulling on his own shirt when a body floated through the stall door.

Tsuna shrieked.

"Tsuna!" Gokudera banged the change room from his left.

"Are you okay?" Yamamoto asked worriedly from his right.

"Tsuna?" Enma called timidly from somewhere.

"Y-yeah," Tsuna said, attempting to mask his quivering voice, "Just... just bumped into a wall."

Kyouya began to come closer, almost like he was trapping Tsuna.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna hissed. "Why are you here?"

"I got bored," the Shinigami replied.

"Why don't you go somewhere else? Anywhere else?"

"Like where?"

"Kyouya, just get out!" Tsuna cried indignantly. Well, whisper-cried as he didn't want the entire store hearing him. Especially his friends who were within mere feet of him.

"No, I –"

"Leave me alone!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back.

"Leave?" Kyouya echoed and his eyes flickered a crimson red – in anger? irritation? – and Tsuna gulped. He flattened against the wall of the change room as Kyouya slammed both arms down both sides of his head. "Leave? Yeah? And are you going to make me?"

That was it. He had had it. He's been brushed off for the last few days, and damn, was it _ever _pissing him off. He wasn't exactly sure why, but when Tsuna left him to be with the humans he liked, he felt angry... and just a bit hurt, though he'd never admit it. And he was a _Shinigami _for God's sake – the boy might've wanted to try to _please_ him a bit more, but no. Tsuna seemed to completely disregard that fact and treat Kyouya like everyone else.

And to top it off, the brunet was only getting annoyed by him. It was his _job_, damn it. He was _supposed _to observe Tsuna for an entire month. He was supposed to learn about Tsuna.

That boy didn't know a single thing.

Tsuna pressed his hands against Kyouya, who, at this point was thoroughly frustrated and only leaned in further. He whimpered, "Kyouya..."

"Don't order me around, herbivore. Don't forget who I am – what I am," he said icily. Steel grey eyes gave him a quick once-over. They were hard and narrowed. "You're different from before. You're not scared of me anymore..."

Before Tsuna had the chance to reply, Kyouya rapidly vanished as sudden as he had appeared.

However, Kyouya's voice lingered.

"But you should be."

A few minutes later, when Tsuna emerged from his stall with the black suit draped over his arm, his friends circled around him, cooing and doting like parents. Thankfully, another employee arrived and whisked them away to the check-out counter while Tsuna was still in his half-dazed, half-dumb-founded state. At least they couldn't pester him or continuously ask him if he was alright.

This staff member also had long hair, but it was nowhere near as long as the first's, and it was blond. It hung over his eyes enigmatically, and he wore a crown. A trainee, who seemed to be several years younger than him, followed him around and made sarcastic comments on whatever he did. It seemed everyone at the store was rather... eccentric.

As they were putting their items into shopping bags, there was a loud crash – like glass smashing against something – Tsuna gulped, or maybe it was someone? – and an incredibly loud, "Voi!"

"Shi shi shi," the blond simply laughed, paying no attention to the suspicious background noises "Excellent choice. It's Varia quality, after all."

x

_Stupid_, Kyouya thought, _humans are stupid_.

He was hundreds of feet of the ground, stretching out his wings and flying. He thought air would calm him down. Soothing, cool air.

Namimori looked like a miniscule town from his height. Tiny, puny, almost non-existent. Like he could crush the whole stupid town easily along with all the stupid people.

If he could, he would. He definitely would.

Except an image of a boy flitters through his mind.

He was stupid, too. He was the stupidest of them all.

If he could crush the town, he wouldn't. He couldn't. The stupid boy in his mind won't let him.

_Maybe I'm sick of cool air._

x

For the rest of the afternoon, the boys merely walked around the shopping district. However, Tsuna couldn't help but feel like some emotion was tugging at him. It made him want to see Kyouya and soon.

x

"I'm home," Tsuna announced to nobody in particular. Instead of the peaceful quiet he had this morning, the house was once again lively with kids running around and shouting.

"Gyahaha! I-Pin will never be able to catch the Great Lambo!"

There was a flash black hole of curly hair, cow-print clothes running... running... right into a wall. Then there was crying.

What... what a stupid child.

Normally, Tsuna would have just ignored him and walked away, but instead he squeezed his eyes shut at the wailing before bending down to pat at the hair and crying mess of child on the ground. After Kyouya had vanished, Tsuna had thought. And thought. And thought. Was he too harsh to Kyouya? Was he always like that?

"Lambo," Tsuna said gently, but his words were lost under the crying. He sighed and pulled Lambo into a hug, refraining from pulling away at the amount of tears and snot running down Lambo's face. "The Great Lambo wouldn't cry over something like this."

Lambo stopped.

"I-I – _hic – _am not _– hic _– crying." he sniffled and rubbed his eyes.

Tsuna brightened, "Right. Of course you're not. You're too strong for that."

"G-gyahaha!" Lambo laughed shakily, before smacking Tsuna on the head, "You've acknowledged my greatness! Gyahaha! I'll let you be my subordinate, if you _beg _me!"

Lambo scurried away, cackling.

Within a moment, Nana appeared and hovered by the entrance to the kitchen, "Oh, Tsu-kun, welcome home," she greeted, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah," Tsuna said as he followed her into the kitchen. He watched as she stacked the plates on the table and brought it to the sink. He imitated.

As he turned on the tap and picked up a soap-bubbly sponge, Nana smiled.

"You're different, Tsu-kun.'

Tsuna froze and furrowed his eyebrows, "Different?"

"You're a lot less shy and a lot happier now. Remember when you were little and used to hide behind my leg?"

He groaned.

"My little Tsu-kun growing up," she cooed.

x

Their words rang in his ears, echoing again and again, _different._

He seemed different.

First Kyouya said so. Then Gokudera. And then, finally, his _mom._

But nothing seemed different about himself.

Tsuna analyzed at himself in the mirror. He had done the same thing this morning, the previous morning, and probably every morning that had proceeded today. He lightly outlined his puffy cheeks with his fingers and ran them across his soft jaw – those were the same. His blinked a few times, noting that his eyes were a honey caramel colour – still the same. He smiled, confirming that there was just one small dimple on his left cheek alone – as always. The corner of his lips soon fell, turning downwards in a small pout as he tugged his long, light brown bangs – and once again, there was no alteration.

He stared at himself intently before the glass fogged up with steam. He pressed the tips of his fingers to the glass and then slowly pulled them back, curling them as he did so. Several fingers prints resided amongst the steam – the exact finger prints he's worn since birth.

Stepping away from the sink and mirror, Tsuna turned off the running water and gingerly stepped into the large bath tub.

_Baths_, Tsuna thought as he sunk further and further into the water, _Baths are great. Really... really great._

The water spilled over his shoulders and fluffy bubbles crept up to his chin. Warmth quickly washed over Tsuna, easing stiff muscles and soothing tense joints. It was like he could feel the stress wash away. His eyelids gently shut as he relaxed.

Abruptly, the water rose past his chin, and Tsuna's eyes snapped open.

"Kyouya!" he screeched and immediately attempted to cover himself, which didn't go so well as he was naked. In water. With his clothes and towel several feet away and out of his grasp.

And Kyouya wasn't wearing his usual black kimono, Tsuna noted in the midst of it all, but with all the bubbles, he couldn't tell if _just _his upper body that was bare.

Kyouya rolled his eyes, "I already saw everything at the store, so you don't need to hide your scrawny little body from me."

Nevertheless, Tsuna blushed in mortification.

"C-can you get out, p-please?" he stuttered, automatically shifting to the opposite end of the tub.

"No," replied Kyouya, rather laconically. "I want to know what a bath feels like."

"Why?"

"Just because."

Tsuna submerged himself again, "F-fine."

The two remained in the water without speaking another word. After a few minutes, the silence and tension was getting to Tsuna. He cleared his throat. "Kyouya...? Are you mad about today?"

The Shinigami didn't reply.

"Look, Kyouya, I'm sorry," Tsuna said earnestly, "For the yelling-at-you thing. I'm sorry. I don't want you to be mad at me."

Kyouya glanced rather apathetically at Tsuna, but that was a start.

"I don't want to be afraid of you, either.

"And you have a _terrible _habit of invading others' privacy, you know that?"

Kyouya snorted, "Do not."

Tsuna smiled at his reaction. "Do so, it's three for three now."

The raven stared blankly at the other.

"Twice today, and two days ago, you stole that sheet of paper from me –"

"Get over it, herbivore. I said I'll help you with it. Besides, you're the one who's been brushing me off all the time."

"I'm _sorry_! Gosh. You're the one dwelling on things."

x

_Dear Diary,_

_Shinigami definitely don't have any sense of privacy... or of reason, for that matter._

**Author's Note: **Thanks for everyone's support, it means a lot!

I have no idea what suit shopping/renting is like, forgive me. And no, they did not do anything that wasn't Tsuna-innocent in the bath. ^_^

Okay, so I realize some of you may be unsatisfied with the amount – or rather, lack of – development in Kyouya's and Tsuna's relationship. I'm really sorry! I'm trying to fit more and more into each chapter now. It kind of seems like Kyouya gets Tsuna's nights and the rest of his life – friends, school, etc – occupies his day.

This chapter's contest word: lessons. Check out the A/N at the end of chapter 5 for details if you don't understand!

Relates to the next chapter, and plus, it's summative+exam month. ):


	7. Mazurka

**07. Mazurka**

T-Minus 23 Days

Kyouya sighed as he stared out the window of Tsuna's bedroom. The room was nearly completely dark, save for the soft glow of blue numbers on his alarm clock. It was much past midnight and Tsuna slept soundly just a few feet away from him. That bath seemed to have really soothed Tsuna, once he got over the stupid, irrational panic he initially had when he got in as well.

He clenched his fists, further crinkling the already incredibly worn sheet of paper in his hands. He unfolded the list and folded it again, barely glancing at the contents. It had become somewhat like a ritual to him, he found himself always playing with the paper during times of idleness. However, it seemed to take on a much larger meaning now.

The slightly faded ink had become a reminder of Tsuna.

As sad as the thought was, admittedly, he had read the sheet enough to have them all memorized by heart.

_One – Change someone's life... for the better. _

_Two – Write a letter to Dad. _

_Three – Watch the sakura trees with everyone._

_Four – See the sunset with someone I like._

_Five – Fall in love. _

He wondered if he would always remember it – even after Tsuna...

And of course, there was the fact that he said that he would _help _Tsuna accomplish this list. He didn't really know why he said it, but he felt like he needed to. It was like that strange human charity thing he saw once, where if you were gravely ill, these Genies would grant you one wish. He was once looking after a young girl a while ago, and she wished to go to a place called "Disney World."

Of course, when her mother was making the plans, he was already half-way through the one month of watching her. To put it blatantly, she had died shortly before her wish could come true. It was slightly tragic and quite pitiful, Kyouya suddenly realizes. He didn't really pay attention at the time. He never really had felt anything but indifference towards those people.

And now he was trying to play that Genie who granted artificial happiness with wishes out of pity – he really didn't want to look at it like that, and yet he couldn't resist.

Without meaning to, the thoughts he didn't even realize he had slipped into his mind, and before he knew it, he was remembering. Remembering all the people he had to pass judgement on. All of their faces flickered through his mind like an old movie, like grainy clips of footage. Each person melted into the next, and they were always laughing and talking and they were just so full of life, and a pang of sadness along with their smiling faces because _he _was the one who took it from them.

That thought made him just the tiniest bit sad.

Being sad was an entirely foreign emotion to Kyouya, so rather than just accepting he was sad, he pushed it all out of his head and focused on Tsuna's sleeping figure.

A Shinigami didn't have the right to be sad or selfish.

This was his duty, and he would do it until the end.

x

The same morning, a few hours later, Tsuna woke with a scream and searing pain in his abdomen.

"Lambo!" Tsuna cried, lifting the child off his stomach, "Don't do that!"

"Why not?" Lambo asked, "You're my subordinate."

"When did I ever agree to that?"

"Yesterday, stupid Tsuna."

Tsuna groaned, still holding Lambo up, "No, no, I didn't."

Anger contorted this cow child's face and his short arms and little hands attempted to swing at Tsuna, failing to do so by several inches. "Did so! Did so! Did so!" he whined.

"Did not!"

Lambo scrunched up his face, clearly displeased. "But you said!"

"Fine," Tsuna sighed reluctantly. If you couldn't beat 'em, join 'em. "And what would you like to do today, Lambo-sama?"

Lambo's face lit up and Tsuna almost shared his delight. He felt like he was doing something good. And besides, spending some time with Lambo wouldn't kill him. Besides, just a few days ago, didn't he want to help Lambo grow up to be a better person?

"Let's eat breakfast!" Lambo announced, the command sounding innocent enough.

Tsuna smiled, relieved. Lambo was just five years old, he couldn't do that much damage. "Sure –"

"But you have to give me all your sausages and you have to eat my boogers," said Lambo, as condescending as he could be. He stared pointedly downward at Tsuna, his little body squirming with laughter. "Gyahaha!"

"W-what? Wait! Wait! Don't pick your nose already! Stop! I never – Lambo, seriously! Stop! Lambo, go wipe it on a tissue – ah!"

x

_No, _he did _not _eat Lambo's boogers.

x

And so, even later that day, after his rather eventful breakfast, Tsuna was peacefully flipping through some magazine while resting on a couch in some room.

Kyouya approached him.

"I'm going to teach you how to dance," he declared loudly to the room, fully taking advantage of the fact Nana had taken everyone out for some ice cream, so there was no threat of children. Or Bianchi. The house was empty and silent and absolutely perfect.

Tsuna's eyes flickered from the page to Kyouya and back down to the page, as though he didn't really believe him. "No, thanks."

"You don't have a choice in this," he replied curtly.

Tsuna ignored this and flipped a glossy page.

"Herbivore," Kyouya frowned disapprovingly. Why wasn't Tsuna jumping at this amazing opportunity? He had mentioned that the dance wasn't fun because he couldn't, you know, dance. "I'm trying to be nice."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. But I really, really don't want to learn how to dance." Then, as an afterthought, "Can _you_ even dance?"

Kyouya pondered this for a moment before having to admit, "Well, technically, I haven't ever tried either."

"Then how are you supposed to teach me?" Tsuna asked incredulously, very nearly throwing his magazine at Kyouya.

"There used to be this one guy who loved dance," he said, then added when Tsuna couldn't have looked more puzzled, "Someone else I had to watch over."

"Oh." Tsuna nodded his head solemnly. This was the first time Kyouya had ever said anything about previous... targets. "It's really okay," he said in a lighter tone of voice. He wasn't really sure if Kyouya got upset thinking about the other people and he definitely didn't want to touch a nerve or step on some hidden land mine, so as curious as he was, Tsuna didn't push any further, and continued reading his magazine.

Kyouya plopped himself down on the couch beside Tsuna without another word.

_Maybe he finally gave up..._

Tsuna flipped a page contentedly before freezing.

Oh God.

He could _feel _Kyouya's eyes staring right through him. Tsuna shakily raised the magazine higher to cover his quickly face. Why was Kyouya staring at him so much? This was getting uncomfortable.

_This is way too intense for a stare._

Tsuna shivered.

_I might die from this._

And was it just him, or was Kyouya inching towards him?

"Okay!" Tsuna exclaimed abruptly, unable to take his staring for much longer, "Okay! I got it! We can dance."

Kyouya grinned his preditorial grin, finally having gotten Tsuna to consent. It turned out to be a much easier task than he thought it would be, since Tsuna _was _able to go nearly an entire day without acknowledging him. He should have done this from the start!

Tsuna pushed himself off the couch, and said a bit warily, "Alright, teach me."

"You're going to dance in _that_?" The Shinigami said disapprovingly.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Tsuna looked down at his PJs. It was the weekend! If he wanted to laze around in his plaid pyjama bottoms and oversized T-shirt and refuse to go out, then so be it. "We're only practising anyways, it's not like it'll make a huge difference."

Kyouya frowned.

"You're not dressed really formally either," Tsuna pointed out in reference to his kimono.

"But black _is _formal," he retorted. "And it's a lot better than your sloppy ensemble."

Tsuna threw his hands up in frustration – were they _seriously _having this argument? "Kyouya, let's just get this over with."

It seemed like that was one thing Kyouya could agree with him on.

Instantaneously, Tsuna felt Kyouya's one hand in his, and another residing on his lower back. Alright. The sooner they started, the sooner they would be finished. He just hoped this wouldn't take too much time. Wait...

Tsuna scrunched up his nose, "Don't tell me that _I'm _taking the female role."

"Well, naturally," Kyouya said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. He gave Tsuna a once-over, "You're smaller than I am, skinnier, and not to mention, a herbivore."

"But I'm the one who's going to be the guy at the dance!"

Kyouya snorted, "A lot of women are manlier than you are. Maybe that girl will take lead – gender equality and all."

Agh. This wasn't fair at all. He didn't even want to do this dumb dance lesson thing, and now he had to be the girl? Kyouya was being so absurd about the whole thing. The two still remained stiffly in position in the centre of the rather vacant room.

"What else would you like me to do, stupid Shinigami-san? Put on a dress?" Tsuna replied bitterly.

Kyouya's face lit up and Tsuna's expression darkened as he watched with horror. Kyouya couldn't be taking him seriously, could he?

...could he!

"I-I was joking," Tsuna stuttered, staring up at his dancing partner, "...Joking. Pleasedon'tmakeme!"

Kyouya smirked, and held Tsuna in place more firmly, "Hn... I don't know. Maybe you should..."

"Hiee! Kyouya!"

"I'm only kidding."

"G-good!"

"Besides, you don't have the figure for a dress – you're lacking curves."

"You're completely right," Tsuna agreed, nodding his head furiously. He was so relieved, so glad – "I'm – excuse me what?"

Kyouya smirked again and Tsuna paled, suddenly dumbstruck.

He didn't even know why he was offended by this!

He was definitely not going to push this subject.

He was not going to convince Kyouya that he should, in fact, put on some girly dress and be entirely submissive.

No.

"Nevermind," Tsuna muttered as he grudgingly placed his hand on Kyouya's arm, letting him lead. He noticed that he _did _actually have to raise his own arm a bit as Kyouya _was _just the _slightest_ bittaller. "What am I even learning?"

"Traditional, timeless dances," responded Kyouya, "Like the tango, and the waltz –"

Tsuna only sighed in a defeated manner and pulled on Kyouya a bit, "Alright, alright, let's go. Let's dance to invisible music."

Tsuna wasn't going to start another debate on whether or not people still danced like that.

Initially, Tsuna had felt extremely self-conscious. He wondered what Kyouya thought of him – was Kyouya laughing at him secretly inside? They circled around the room once, twice, uneasily and slightly at discomfort on Tsuna's part, rather impassive on Kyouya's.

Dancing was something entirely foreign to Tsuna. Well, any sort or form of physical activity that required coordination was. He was clumsy, had two left feet, and he never ever excelled at sports. So, of course, it was expected that Tsuna moved around the room as though he was just learning how to walk, stumbling and accidentally stepping on Kyouya, which, Tsuna had to admit, Kyouya took in stride. He just remained as neutral and stone-faced as ever. However, what surprised him was that Kyouya actually moved _gracefully_, despite it being his first time as well.

Maybe Shinigami were just good at everything.

Kyouya didn't even alert Tsuna of what they were doing – he just did it. The difference dances blended together like a large slur of movement, and Tsuna had no idea what they were doing anymore. Kyouya seemed to switch them whenever he felt like it.

Tsuna unconsciously leaned on Kyouya more, learning to fall into his steps. The distance that was originally between them seemed to have closed a bit. Hey, it seemed as though dancing wasn't too horrendous after all. It was actually kind of nice. The silence was like a tranquilizer, and the dancing wasn't physically straining or anything, either. He just had to rely on and follow Kyouya.

As he realized what he was thinking, a blush began to heat up Tsuna's cheeks. Agh, god, this was embarrassing, he didn't want Kyouya to see him all flushed _again_. So, Tsuna did what any other person in a situation like this – he hid his face on Kyouya's chest, just under his chin, and prayed that he wouldn't question it.

It's just practice, Tsuna told himself as he squeezed his eyes shut, for Kyoko.

And for some reason, the blushing herbivore against his chest made Kyouya want blush, himself. He sighed, this was kind of dangerous.

"Alright," said Kyouya, breaking the dead quiet of the house. "Class is over."

x

He didn't know why he was doing this, really, he didn't.

Tsuna decided he _had _to stop letting people take advantage of him, specifically, a blonde-haired, boyish twenty-something-year-old supposed adult named Giotto who was just a little too reckless.

Good God.

After his "dance lesson", Tsuna received a text from Giotto, begging him to come along with him, Cozart and Enma later that night.

Apparently, Cozart didn't want to leave Enma alone to go on a date with Giotto. And because the man was so clever, Giotto decided to drag Tsuna into it.

So it was a double date – er, not date, really. He would be a third wheel to Giotto and Cozart, of course, but there would be a second third wheel, Enma. Hopefully they could split up somewhere along the way, Tsuna didn't want the awkwardness of following around a couple with a fellow third wheel. That was awkward multiplied by seventy-two, if not more.

But here he was, in front of Enma's door for the second night in a row.

He wasn't supposed to have brought flowers or anything, was he?

_No, _Tsuna mentally slapped himself, it was _not _a date, and he was _not _obligated to do anything. Giotto should be extremely grateful that Tsuna even agreed to do this.

Before he could even knock, the door opened.

"H-hi."

"Come in." Enma smiled tentatively, and gestured to the inside of his house before retreating.

Tsuna followed behind Enma, trying hard not to stare too much at the bare house.

x

**Author's Note: **Hi. Looks like this story is going to have a somewhat decent ending after all.

I'd like to thanks so many people for such kind messages! I wasn't expecting anything like that at all – thank you! They all seriously touched me, and it's what inspired me to continue. I know some people have read what happens and the terrible ending I wrote rather quickly, but if you want to keep reading while fully knowing what happens, you're more than welcome. If not, thank you still! I promise that was the absolute last time I do anything like an Author's Note chapter. I am determined to finish this story no matter what.

If you're a new reader, just disregard everything, okay? (:

I used to have to do ballroom dancing for PE, so I actually do know how to do a basic tango, waltz, meringue, etc. Haha.

This chapter's contest word: waltz.

And I realize this chapter is kind of (a lot) cut off randomly, but I don't think I'll have time to write anymore for the next few weeks as I'm going into total hardcore study mode for SATs, and I think it's kind of a long time to wait, so here's a teaser, I suppose? Aha. (:


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